


Worthy of Love

by TotallyCormacked



Category: Wentworth (TV), ballie - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Smut, F/F, Friendship, True Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 11:57:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 142
Words: 449,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12210828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TotallyCormacked/pseuds/TotallyCormacked
Summary: Allie goes missing, after searching for her Kaz finds a private investigator who is willing to find her, will she be found? Will she allow herself to find the love that she has so desperately been searching for?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first fan fic, go easy on me. This will be a slow burn, well at least for now I think it will be.

Is it really so wrong to want to be loved? All her life it’s the one thing she’d craved but never felt it, at least not from anyone other than her grandparents. Yes they loved her, she knew that. But now, in ever decreasing spiral of darkness she tries to call a life she can barely remember what that love had felt like. Her parents didn’t show her love, hardly surprising since it had always been evident that she had never been wanted. People had come and gone in her life, one or two had said they loved her but she didn’t feel it, some people use those three little words when they think they can get something they want from you, when they get what they want they just up and leave or toss you aside like trash. Allie Novak knows this all too well, but that craving to turn her life around a find the love she craved so deeply was eating away at her. “Who could ever love you?,” she thinks to herself. “Look at yourself, damaged, drug fucked goods, that’s all I am” a single tear falling down her cheek. Shaking her head to try and clear her thoughts she drags herself up from the step she was sitting on, turning around to look at her reflection in a store window, her reflection brings the tears to well up in her eyes and now she cannot stop them from escaping.

Why had she done this to herself again? Yes Allie had gotten clean and off the streets, but it had all felt too hard. She knew she had fucked up, Kaz had found her one night badly beaten huddled in a shop doorway, half off her face. She had taken her in, helped her get clean, given her a warm place to stay. That was six months ago, and now look at her, right back where she started from, all because she couldn’t believe that someone could actually care for her. Kaz had been like a mum to her and she had repaid her by throwing it all back in her face, doing a runner and straight back into the life she knew too well, “your just a junkie, a dirty street whore,” she said to herself. Heading off into the night to find her next customer and her next fix Allie had no idea that Kaz was looking for her, but Allie knew the city well enough to not be found if she didn’t want to be.

Kaz had spent two weeks looking for Allie, two weeks of sleeping a little during the day and spending most of the evening and all night looking, but she hadn’t found a trace of her. Everyone she spoke to and showed Allie’s picture to had said they hadn’t seen her, although she did get the feeling that some of them knew Allie and just didn’t want to say anything. Getting home just as the sun was coming up Kaz realised that she wasn’t going to find her on her own, she needed help. She put some coffee on to brew and turned her attention to her laptop, the police wouldn’t help, as far as they were concerned she had left of her own free will, she was an adult, and because of her past they had no interest in helping. Searching for private investigators and finding a couple local to her she looked at the first website, they mainly seemed to concentrate on tracing missing people online, no use to her, it’s not like Allie would be using any social media out there on the streets, she even left her phone behind when she left. Heading back to the kitchen grab a mug of coffee she stared out of the window, “oh Allie,” she said to herself shaking her head before returning to her laptop to check the next website.

This seemed much more promising, taking a note of the address as it wasn’t too far from where she lived, she decided to visit the office instead of calling. Draining the last of the coffee from the mug she she headed to bed for a few hours of much needed sleep.

Waking up with a start Kaz looked at the clock, 10:30am, she groaned and sat up. Heading back downstairs to the kitchen for more coffee before deciding that a shower and a change of clothes would be more appropriate than just heading over to the office of Wentworth Investigations. After a quick shower and clothes change she headed out, hoping that she could get some help. The office was only a 10 minute drive from her house, pulling up into the parking lot outside the office Kaz was hopeful, but didn’t want to get her hopes up too high, maybe they wouldn’t want to help, not when they found out who she wanted them to look for. She got out of the car and headed to the door, pausing for a moment before she entered.

Entering the office she scanned the small reception area, seeing an older blond woman sitting behind a desk, a couple of half glazed doors behind her to the right, a wooden door to the left and a couple of battered but comfortable looking chairs up against the wall.

“Good morning, I’m Liz, how can I help you today.”

“I’m hoping you can help me trace a missing person,” Kaz sighed

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Liz responded, getting up from her chair, “if you’d like to take a seat I’ll get someone to see you as soon as they can.”

Liz approached one of the half glazed doors and tapped on it gently before entering.

“I’m telling you Franky I’m not interested, stop trying to set me up with your friends for gods sake”

“Oh come on Red, live a little will ya?”

Liz cleared her throat,

“Bea, there’s a woman in reception looking for a missing person”

“Well what do you know, someone has saved me from Franky, sure Liz send her in, and Franky, get back to work!”

Franky stuck her tongue out and rose from the chair she had been sitting in.

“Anything you say boss,” she said with a smirk and left Beas office.

“Shall I send her through now Bea?”

“Please Liz, and if you wouldn’t mind keep an eye on Franky will you?”

“Sure thing love”

Liz leaves Beas office and heads back to Kaz,

“Bea can see you now, before you go in would you like a coffee?”

“Please, black, no sugar”

“No problem, I’ll bring it in in just a second, go straight in.”

Pointing to the door she had just exited.

Kaz approached the door not knowing what or who to expect, all she knew was that Allie had to be found, even if she didn’t want to come back she had to know if she was still around. Opening the door she is greeted by Bea as she is getting up from her chair.

“ Hi, I’m Bea, Liz said you were looking for a missing person”

“Yes, that’s right”  
Bea extended her arm to shake Kaz’s hand before offering her a seat. Bea returns to her chair just as Liz comes back with coffee.

“There you go, black no sugar, and I made you one Bea, thought you might be needing it what with Franky and everything.”

“Thanks Liz, you know me so well.”

Liz leaves and Bea turns her attention to Kaz, looking her up and down.

“Hey, sorry I’m Kaz, Karen Proctor, but everyone just calls me Kaz.”

“So, a missing person, I’m assuming that the police are unwilling to help.”

Kaz tells Bea about Allie, about how she found her six months ago, helping her get clean and giving her a place to stay. Then sh tells her about her just walking out one day and she hasn’t seen or heard from her since.

“I don’t have a problem looking for her, do you have a photo?”

“Yes, I have brought a couple with me”

Bea looks at the photos, “why is this young woman out there alone?” She thinks to herself.

“We’ll make a start on looking for her today, if you could just give me a few more details, but I do have to warn you that she may not want to come home?”

“Yes I understand that, I just need to know if she’s ok, you know, I kinda miss her to be honest”

After giving Bea the relevant details, age, height etc Kaz leaves the office a little more hopeful than she had entered it, even if Allie didn’t want to go home she needed to know that she was ok, and for her to know that if she ever needed anything she would always be there for her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it possible to find Allie?........

Bea shoves her chair back and puts her feet up on her desk while she studies the details and the photo’s that Kaz had given her, closing her eyes for a minute as Franky bursts through the door.

“We got a case Red?”

“Franky, have you ever heard of knocking?”

“Yer course, but it’s not like your busy in here is it? What ya got there then?”

Bea hands over the details and photo’s of Allie.

“Shit Red, she’s hot! She’s missing?”

“Yes Franky, and if you cared to read instead of drooling over a picture you would know as much as I do!”

“Oh yer, errrr…..fucking hell, drugs and prostitution! You think we can find her? There’s a lot of places to hide out there, and you know if they don’t want to be found”…….. she trails off, looking at Bea who again has her eyes closed.

“Red, Red!”

“Fucks sake Franky, I’m thinking, not that you do that too often.”

“Oh thanks for nothin’, so you got a plan?”

“Well I know a few of the girls that work over in St Kilda, might start there tonight, about 9pm ok with you? Not that it livens up before 10pm, rather get in and get out so to speak.”

“Fine with me, we could check out a couple of the bars in the area, best to do that earlier.”

“Yes, you could be right, some of the shop owners might have seen her around to, so I say we finish up here by 2pm, head home, get some rest. I’ll meet you back here around 6pm?”

“No worries.”

Franky heads off back to her own office, slamming the door behind her.  
Bea just can’t get Allie out of her head, picking up the photo’s again she just can’t believe how someone so pretty, no beautiful as Allie could choose to go back to that life.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Get a grip” she thinks to herself, “ She’s a missing person, you have a job to do” she scolds herself internally. Bea never usually notices how a person looks but there is something about Allie that she just can’t shake.

Liz knocks on Beas door and enters quietly.

“Everything ok love?”

“I don’t know Liz, I don’t know if we can find this missing woman,” she points to the photo’s on her desk, “take a look, any ideas?”

“Oh I’m no expert love, she’s a pretty young thing, all you can do is try, and knowing you there’s no way you’ll rest until you’ve exhausted every possible avenue.”

“It scares me Liz, she’s not that much older than Debbie, I just feel like, like…..oh I don’t know…..Christ….I just hope we find her.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------

6pm, Bea pulls into the parking lot outside the office and sees Franky’s car already parked up. Franky gets out of her car and walks over to Beas.

“We takin’ the SUV?”

“Well yer, we ain’t takin’ our own cars”

“Was hoping you were going to say that, I’ll go get the keys.”

“Oy, Franky, grab the file I left on Liz’s desk will ya?”

Franky heads to the office to grab the keys and the file, returning after a couple of minutes.  
Bea’s already waiting beside the SUV.

“You can drive Franky.”

“Wow, your trusting me?”

Bea punches Franky lightly on the arm before they both get in and drive away.  
Reaching their destination Franky finds a good parking spot, looking around before getting out Bea spots one of the women she knows heading to a bar across the street.

“I’m heading over there, you take the bar up the street.”

“You going to be alright on ya own Red?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine, I’ve just seen Angie heading into the bar, no doubt if she’s in there a few of the other girls will be in there or not far away?”

“Ok, if you’re sure, ring me if you need me.”

With that Bea heads across the street to the bar, spotting Angie as soon as she enters.

“Hey Angie, long time no see”

Bea, Bea bloody Smith, what brings you to these parts?”

“Ahh, ya know, work and stuff, actually I’m looking for someone,” pulling a photo of Allie out of her pocket she hands it over.

“That’s Allie, looks better in the picture than she did last time I saw her”

“So you know her?”

“Yer, haven’t seen her for a couple of nights, last time I saw her she was on Grey Street, but I don’t spend much time there, prefer to stay near the bar!” She laughs.

“Grey street, thanks Angie.” Bea slips her 50 dollars before heading outside, she sends Franky a text.

**Heading over to Grey Street, Allie was seen there a couple of nights ago**

**Heading over to you now, don’t get ya self into anything before I get there**

They both reach their destination around the same time, looking up the street they notice a couple of girls out already and not wanting to waste time they head on over.

“Hi, I was just wondering if you’ve seen this young woman, goes by the name of Allie? “ Franky says.

“Yer sure I know her, but you won’t find her out tonight, had a run in with a punter last night and got pretty messed up, not sure where she’ll be.”

“Thanks.”

Walking back the way they came

“So what we gonna do now Red?”

“Take a look around, Kaz said she found her in a shop doorway, might be worth a try?”

“Yer, but can we get something to eat first? I’m starving!”

“Fuck Franky, you’re as bad as Debbie.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  
After having a break to get something to eat it was soon 8:30pm, Franky and Bea head out to Grey Street asking everyone they met if they had seen Allie, no one had, or at least they were saying they hadn’t seen her.

“Red this is hopeless, she clearly ain’t out here, at least not tonight”

“You give up too easily you know that?”

“Na, I ain’t givin’ up, but come on she ain’t here.”

“Just a little longer yer, ten minutes, come on Franky.”

“What are you now, the patron saint of lost causes?”

“Ok,ok, you win, this time.”

They headed back to the SUV, on the drive back to the office Bea didn’t say anything, she couldn’t help but think that if they had just searched for a little longer they would have found her, she just couldn’t be bothered to argue with Franky. Arriving back at the office Franky handed the keys and the file to Bea.

“Right I’m out of here, later Red”

“Yer, see ya Franky.”

Bea went back to the office to drop the keys off. That feeling that she had on the way back was still there, she knew she was out there, it’s not like no one had seen her at all. Heading into her own office she clicked on the light and walked over to her desk opening the bottom draw taking out a new fully charged pre paid cell phone. Turning it on she scrolled to the contacts page, adding her own mobile number, office number and after checking the paperwork added the phone numbers Kaz had given her. She put the phone and the charger in her pocket and left her office turning off the light as she went. Heading back to parking lot after locking the office up she grabbed her mobile from her pocket to call Debbie.

“Hi mum, everything ok?”  
“Yes baby, I’m ok, I might be a little late getting in, will you be ok on your own?”  
“Mum….I’m 18 not 8” Debbie groaned  
“I know, I know, but your still my little girl ya know”  
“Yes mum, but I’m off to uni next week, then you’ll have the house all to yourself”  
“You have to keep reminding me don’t ya?”  
“Yep, but only because I can’t wait, you be carful mum”  
“I will baby, I love you”  
“To the moon and back”

With that Debbie hung up leaving Bea to her own thoughts. Putting her phone away she got her car keys out and got into her car, “she’s out there I just know it” she said under her breath before setting off back to St Kilda.

Parking up closer to Grey Street this time she got out locking the car, checking that she had the spare phone on her. Walking past the point that her and Franky had gotten to she didn’t see anyone around. She scanned all the shop doorways that she passed seeing no one until she got almost to the end of the street, in the last doorway she could make out someone huddled in it, walking a little faster she made her way over, stopping dead in front of the doorway it was her, it was Allie. Bea swallowed hard,

“Allie…..Allie Novak?”

“Piss off will ya, I’m not interested!”

Bea crouched down in front of Allie, she could make out the bruising and a few cuts on her face, she felt tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, blinking them away she spoke again,

“Allie, I’m Bea, Kaz asked me to look for you, she’s really worried about you.”

“Yer, well now you found me, so you can go back and tell her I’m not going home!”

“Allie, look at me…….please”

Allie lifted her head to look at Bea, her heart skipped a beat or two the moment she laid eyes on Bea, even in the half light of the street she couldn’t quite believe how beautiful this woman was, guessing her eyes were brown as they looked black in the light, but she couldn’t mistake her red curly hair and her well defined cheek bones.

“I’m still not going back, I…I just can’t, she helped me before and look at me now, I’ve thrown it all back in her face, she’ll hate me.”

“Allie, she doesn’t hate you, if she did why would she ask me to look for you?”

Allie just looked at Bea with a blank expression.  
“Listen you don’t have to go back, here I have something for you,” taking the pre paid cell phone and charger out of her pocket she offered it to Allie who in turn still looked back at her with a blank expression.

“Please just take it,I put my phone numbers in there and Kaz’s, you can call me any time if you change your mind.”

Allie took the phone from Bea and put her head back down.

“Do you need anything?”

“A new life would be nice, maybe you could check e bay and buy me one” she said with a small snigger.

“If I could do that I would, but since it’s not possible how about I take you to a hotel and get you a room for a couple of nights, you need some rest”

“You….you would do that for me? You don’t even know me!”

“I want to help you, if you’ll let me”

Allie sat for a couple of minutes before trying to get up, Bea seeing her struggle stood up and held out her hand to Allie to help her up. Once she was on her feet they slowly made their way to a cheap hotel that Bea was aware of in the area, Bea went to the desk and paid for two nights, accepting the room key she help Allie up to the room. She opened the door and turned on the light, passing the key to Allie. For the first time Bea got a proper look at Allie, even in her present state she was beautiful, Allie couldn’t look Bea in the face.

“Listen, I’ll come back in two days ok? But if you want anything before that you have my numbers, call or text me? Do we have a deal?”

Allie just shrugged her shoulders.

“A simple yes or no is all I want to hear and then I’ll leave you to rest.”

“Yes, ok, I will……Bea….tha….thank you.”

Bea smiled at Allie and at the moment Allie lifted her head to look straight at Bea, their eyes met for the first time, in that moment Bea felt a lump form in her throat and her stomach started doing cart wheels, she had no idea what was going on, this was all so strange to her.  
Bea turned to leave,

“I’ll be back in two days unless you need me before then.”

With that Bea left closing the door softly behind her, pulling her phone from her pocket she sent a quick text to Debbie telling her she was on her way home. She contemplated sending Franky a text but decided against it, she’d tell her in the morning that she found her, she really wasn’t in the mood for a pissed off Franky outburst right now. Leaving the hotel she couldn’t help but smile, she knew she would find her tonight.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Bea awoke from a restless nights sleep, the sun streaming in to her room as she hadn’t been bothered to draw the curtains before she flopped down onto her bed the night before, she hadn’t even been bothered to get undressed. She had tossed and turned throughout the night, glancing at the clock on her bedside table more than once and groaning internally every time. She sat up, yawned and rubbed her eyes. Looking at the clock again, 7:18am, pulling herself slowly to the edge of the bed before stretching and yawning again. She sat there for a couple of minutes before she remembered, “I found her, I found Allie,” she said to herself and couldn’t help the small smile creeping onto her face. Stripping herself she headed to the en suite to shower, finishing with the shower she wrapped a towel around herself and brushed her teeth before heading back into her bedroom to get dressed. Pulling on black skinny jeans and a black shirt before brushing and tying her hair up in a pony tail, the smile still on her face.

“Morning mum, I thought I heard you moving about”

“Morning baby, why are you up so early?”

“Got a lot to do, I need to head out and buy a few more things I need for uni and I have to make a start on packing.”

“Oh yer, how could I possibly forget since you remind me so nicely almost every day! Do you need any money?”

“Well if your offering!.........”

Debbie walked over to Bea who had taken a seat at the kitchen table, placing a mug of fresh coffee down in front of her.

“Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” Bea replied before having a sip of her coffee.

“Right bacon and eggs coming right up, and you can tell me how your new case is going.”

Bea began explaining the events of the previous day while Debbie cooked. Placing two plates down on the table Debbie took a seat across the table from her mum.

“You found her!”

“I did, no thanks to Franky though, I love her like a little sister but when she starts throwing her toys out of her pram I could willingly swing for her,”

Debbie couldn’t help but laugh.

“But you found her, so where do you go from here?”

“Well first things first I’m going to eat my breakfast that you so kindly made me, then I guess I’ll head to the office and call Kaz.”

After breakfast Bea headed back to her room to get her phone, checking that she had no missed calls or texts before putting it in her pocket. Heading back downstairs to the living room to get her bag she pulled out her wallet to get some money for Debbie. Returning to the kitchen where Debbie was doing the washing up and singing along with the radio.

“I better get going Deb, I’ll leave this on the table for you”

“Thanks mum, you’re the best”

“Don’t you forget it,” she laughed.

“I’ll see you later, hopefully I won’t be so late tonight”

“Mum, you have a job to do I understand that, you finally found something you really enjoy doing and your so good at it, don’t worry about me”

“I always will and you know it, I love you”

“To the moon and back, and mum, text me if your going to be late”

“I shouldn’t be tonight, but then you never know.”

Bea picked up her bag and car keys and headed out for the day, hoping that she would hear from Allie at some point during the day.

Pulling into the parking lot outside her office it was quiet, not that she expected Franky or Liz to be around so early. Unlocking the office and heading inside she put her bag down on one of the chairs deciding that she would put some coffee on before doing anything else, as soon as she had finished her phone beeped, retrieving it from her pocket it was a text from an unfamiliar number, then she remembered that she hadn’t put the number of the phone that she had given Allie into her contacts. Opening the message she was relieved when she read the text.

**Hi Bea, it’s Allie, thank you for your help, but please don’t tell Kaz where I am just yet.**

Bea quickly typed out a reply

**I’m so glad I found you, no need to thank me, do you need anything? I will have to tell Kaz that I found you, but I won’t tell her where you are until you are ready.**

Receiving a reply almost instantly, but before reading it she picked up her bag heading to her office to sit down behind her desk.

**I could do with a change of clothes, could you get some from Kaz for me?**

**Not a problem, I will phone her and ask her to bring you some clothes, anything else you need?**

**Will you come and see me?**

**If I don’t how will you get a change of clothes?**

**Course, I didn’t think, not feeling so great right now.**

**  
Allie you need to rest, I’ll be over later, and don’t worry, only I know where you are.**

  
Just then she heard Liz and Franky both coming through the front door, Bea got up from her chair and went to her office door, leaning against the door frame.

“And what time do you call this you pair of lay about?” Bea laughed

“Shit Red, have you even been home? What’s going on?”

Bea shrugged her shoulders,

“When you’re ready Franky, my office!” Bea turned around and closed the door behind her walking back to her desk and sitting down, she threw her head back and stared at the ceiling. There was a tap on the door then Franky’s head appeared,

“Am I safe to come in?”

“My, my, Franky Doyle does actually know how to knock on my door!”

“So what’s up red?”

“Well if you come in and sit down I’ll tell you”

Franky slowly walked in taking a seat looking sheepishly at Bea.

“What ever it is I’m sorry.” Franky blurted out.

“What? No, Franky you haven’t done anything, actually I have”

Franky just looked back at her with a puzzled look on her face, “Bea did something, must be bad,” she thought to herself.

“Well last night after you left…..I….I kind of went back to Grey Street,………I found her Franky, I found Allie, I know you thought it was a waste of time but I had a feeling, I couldn’t shake it off so I went back and I found her!”

“ok, so you found her, you know it was a fucking stupid thing to go back there alone right? Where is she now?”

“She’s safe, but she doesn’t want Kaz to know where she is, so just for now I’m keeping that to myself, I know what your going to say so don’t, I just don’t want any slip ups and her running again.”

“Guess you know what you’re doing Red, do you need me to do anything?”

“Right now, nothing much, just stick round the office, I’ll have to go out a little later. Now get out of my office Franky, your making the place look untidy.”

“Hey, in my defence you did invite me in,” Franky got up leaving Bea’s office closing the door behind her.  
  
\------------------------------

Allie feels like death, last nights hit had worn off hours ago and now she just felt ill, really ill. She knew she could go out and score, one of the girls would give her something to tide her over and god did she want to, then her thoughts turned to Bea. Laying back down on the bed she couldn’t get her out of her mind, Red curly hair and brown eyes spinning around in her head.  
“No, no ,no, I’ve got to stay here, she said she’d come back, said she wouldn’t bring Kaz. Just got to hold on and wait for her” she thinks to herself, before turning over and falling back to sleep.

\------------------------------

Bea picks up the receiver of her office phone and dials Kaz’s home number, after few rings she answers,

“Hello”

“Hi Kaz, it’s Bea, I have some good news, and some maybe not so good news to tell you.”

“The good news please.” A hint of panic in Kaz’s voice.

“I found Allie, but….she doesn’t want to see you,”

“You found her, is she alright, does she need anything?”

“I found her last night, she’s a little battered and bruised, apart from being high she seemed alright. She asked if you would bring her a change of clothes over to me.”

“Yes, yes anything she needs, I’ll grab a couple of changes of clothes and things she might need, oh fuck her mobile, its dead, I don’t know where the charger is.”

“Kaz it’s fine, I gave her a pre paid cell last night, I’d already put my numbers in and yours, she can contact either of us if she wants to.”

“Oh Bea, I don’t know what to say, I’ll be over in an hour if that’s alright?”

“That’ll be fine, I’m not going anywhere today, see you later.”

Hanging up Bea really could use a coffee and a chat with Liz.

“Everything ok love? Franky said you found young Allie.”

“Yes, I did, Liz if anyone phones or calls in needing anything pass them on to Franky will you, I have a feeling that I’m going to be busy with this case”

“No worries love, but if you found her that’s it isn’t it?”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that Liz, I’ll fill you in after I’ve spoken to Kaz and I’ve seen Allie again, I don’t want to go into too much detail right now.”

45 minutes later Kaz enters the office.

“Bea’s in her office, she’s waiting for you just go straight in.”

Kaz smiles at Liz and heads over to Bea’s office door, gently tapping on the glass before slowly opening it.

“Kaz, please come in take a seat.”

“I can’t believe you found her so fast, how did you do it?”

“I know a few of the girls round St Kilda, through past cases of course so I took a chance.”

Bea filled Kaz in on how she had found her and that she had left her somewhere safe but didn’t want to go into too much detail. Kaz in return told Bea about what to expect because she knew Allie would be going through withdrawal.

“Bea, you could just tell me where she is, I know how to deal with this, you really aren’t prepared for what she is going to go through.”

“Kaz, I made a promise to her, if I turn up with you she is going to run, and I may not find her again, and even if I did she wouldn’t trust me, without trust this won’t turn out well.”

“I didn’t think of it like that, I’m just a phone call away if you need anything, but I mean it, make sure you turn up with everything you are going to need for a couple of days because you really won’t be able to leave her.”

“I will, don’t worry, I just have to go home and sort things out with my daughter, make sure she’s ok.”

“You have a daughter, Bea, you really don’t need to do all this!”

“It’ll be fine, she’s 18, and I have friends who will keep an eye on her for me, stop worrying, I did kind of know what I was getting into.”

\------------------------------

Back at home Bea gets a few things together that she’ll need for a couple of days. Checking the contents of her fridge deciding that a trip to the supermarket wasn’t needed just then, “even Deb can’t eat everything” she thinks to herself.  
She decides to send a quick text to Debbie

**Deb will you be home soon I really need to speak to you**

Then phoning Maxine,

“Hey Bea hon, how are you?”

“I’m fine Maxi, it’s just I’ve got a case and I need to be away from home for a couple of nights, could you check in on Deb for me?”

“Of course I will, this case I hope it’s nothing dangerous!”

“No Maxi, not dangerous, I don’t want to explained over the phone”

“As long as you’ll be ok, I don’t want to be worrying about you”

“Thanks Maxi, I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

As soon as she hung up she received a text from Debbie

**On my way home now mum, won’t be long**

\----------------------------------------

When Debbie returned home Bea explained everything to her, Debbie was concerned but knew that even if she protested her mum would do what she had to do because it was the right thing to do. Bea had been through way too much in her life to back out of something just because it wasn’t a straight forward situation. She’d had it tough, but thanks to her friends she had come through it tougher and stronger than ever, the only thing that scared Bea was ever allowing herself to get close to anyone, it was just something she wasn’t prepared to do no matter what anyone said to her she was convinced that she was totally fine living the rest of her life alone, she had Debbie and a job she she loved, who could ask for more?

\------------------------------

Making sure she had everything she needed she sent a text to Allie

**I’ll be with you soon, do you need anything other than clothes?**

**Nothing I can think of**

**Ok, just going to make a pit stop for some food and I’m on my way, see you soon.**

“I’ll see you in a couple of days Deb, Maxi will come by and check on you, I’ve got my phone so I’ll call you later”

“Mum, just go already, I’ll be fine”

“I know, I love you Deb”

“To the moon and back”

With that Bea left, heading to supermarket to grab some bottles of water and snacks, before picking up a burger and fries for herself and Allie, “just in case” she told herself.


	4. Chapter 4

Bea pulled her car into the small parking lot behind the hotel where she had left Allie the night before, although she had taken everything on board that Kaz has told her about withdrawal and in the bit of spare time she had she had also done her own research, none of it painted a pretty picture, she hated drugs, that much she knew, but if she could help Allie where Kaz couldn’t she was more than willing to go through this stuck by Allie’s side. All she could hope for was that she herself would be strong enough, she didn’t want to let Allie down and that was the thing that she could not understand, she didn’t know her, never really spoken to her but at the same time she felt drawn to her, that feeling started the second she first saw a photo of Allie, whatever it was she was hoping that sooner rather than later she would figure out the reason. Getting out of her car she pulled her phone from her pocket so she could send a quick text to Allie.

**I’ll be up in a few minutes**

She closed the drivers door and went round to the boot to retrieve the bags, as soon as she closed the boot and made sure she locked the car her phone beeped

**You are alone aren’t you?**

**Of course I am, just me a few bags that’s all I promise, I’ll knock, don’t open the door till I knock.**

Putting her phone away she made her way round to the front of the hotel, walking straight up to the desk, she knew the woman who worked there, she’d helped her out a while back.

“Hey Bea, haven’t seen that young woman you left here all day”

“She needed to rest, do me favour can I get another two nights for the same room?”

“Sure thing, pay me later, I know I can trust you.”

Bea just smiled and headed off to Allie’s room, once she arrived at the door she put the bags down and lightly knocked on the door, not wanting to scare Allie, she waited but heard no movement, knocking a little harder this time she called out to her, “Allie, its Bea, open the door.”  
This time she heard movement, the door opened slowly and Allie peered out at her,

“Hey, it’s just me and my bags see”

“Sorry, I just needed to be sure”

Allie opened the door and went back to sit on the bed. Bea collected the bags up and entered the room closing the door softly behind her.

Allie sat on the bed her head in her hands sobbing, Bea dropped the bags moving over to the bed kneeling down on the floor infront of Allie,

“Hey Allie, it’s going to be ok, I’m here now like I promised”

“You only want to help me because Kaz asked you to”

“Yes Kaz asked for my help to find you, she didn’t ask me to keep you safe, that’s what I’m trying to do, I found you, I could have just walked away and told her where I’d found you, but you know, I…I couldn’t do that, I’m here because I want to be.”

“W…why? You don’t know me, I’m a mess, nothing but a stupid messed up junkie whore, I tried I really tried……but….but I couldn’t do it, Kaz was there but in the end it meant nothing.”

“And maybe we can work out the reason why you feel like that when you’re feeling better, but right now we have to concentrate on you, making you feel better, that’s all that matters.”

“I hate all this, the drugs, the men, it’s not who I am, but no one wants who I really am, my parents never wanted me, and when I told them….they…..they.” Allies sobs got louder and she was crying uncontrollably, Bea couldn’t stand it, reaching towards Allie she wrapped her arms around her, Allie moved her hands from her face and wrapped them around Bea resting her head on Bea’s shoulder, they stayed like that for at least ten minutes until Allie’s sobs turned to sniffles.

“I’m sorry Bea, you don’t need to be involved with my mess, you can go, just leave me!”

Allie pulled away from Bea, but Bea didn’t move, she kept Allie wrapped in her arms, she couldn’t bring herself to let go, she could hear her heart beating faster and harder than it ever had before and it felt like a whole swarm of butterflies were having a party in her stomach, she didn’t understand what this feeling was it was all so foreign to her, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable feeling, it was just strange. A couple of minutes later she did let go, getting up from the floor she looked down at Allie who was just sitting there with her head hanging down staring at the floor.

“Are you hungry?”

“Maybe just a little, but I’ll only throw it back up so there’s no point in eating.”

“You should at least try a little, come on, I’m starving and I hate to eat alone”

Bea pulled out the bag that contained the burgers and fries.

“They’re still warm…..please…..try a little for me.” Bea pleaded

Allie slowly raised her head, dragging her eyes up from Bea’s feet, up her entire body until her eyes met Bea’s, “God could this woman be any more perfect” she thought to her self, forcing a small smile as she looked at Bea.

“I’ll try a little, but only cos you asked so nicely”

“Good”

Bea moved back over to the bed and sat down beside Allie, handing over a burger to her. Bea really was hungry, even though the butterflies in her stomach were still there, she polished off her burger and fries in double quick time, Allie only managed a couple of mouth full of the burger and a few fries but Bea was happy that she had at least tried to eat a little. Reaching over to one of the other bags Bea grabbed two bottles of water,

“Here, you need to drink, can’t have you getting too dehydrated”

“How do you know? That I’ll get dehydrated quickly I mean?”

“Well Kaz told me a bit, but I’m not stupid I did a bit of research, don’t want you ending up worse than you feel now.”

Allie took the bottle and drank half of it in one go

“Better?”

“Yes a little,”

Allie quickly drank the other half of the bottle before throwing herself backwards on the bed.

“Are you really sure you want to do this?”

“Yes, I’m sure, I know it’s not going to be pretty, and to be honest no I don’t know from experience what it’ll be like but I’m willing to stay locked in this room for you, and while I’m on the subject of locked in can I have the room key? I need to lock us in”

“It’s on the bedside table”

Bea got up from the bed, grabbing the key and walking to the door to lock it, just as she did that Allie got up from the bed at lightning speed and ran into the bathroom only just making it to the toilet before she threw up. Bea put the key in the pocket of her jeans, got another two bottles of water and went to the bathroom, kneeling down beside Allie who could only groan, Bea held her hair back from her face just before Allie threw up again, that was how they stayed for over an hour, the only time Bea left her was to get a small towel to run under the cold tap so she could wipe Allies face and neck.

“Oh god, it hurts Bea, it really hurts”

The best part of that night was spent with both of them sat on the bathroom floor, Bea either holding Allie’s hair back, wiping her face or just trying to hold her and comfort her. Just before sunrise Allie started to become agitated, thrashing her arms out at Bea trying to get away from from her, but Bea wasn’t giving in until eventually she knew there was no point trying to fight her and let her get up, Allie raced into the bedroom straight to the door but it was locked.

“Let me out of here, let me the fuck out of here, you can’t keep me locked in here”

Then she started pacing, backwards and forwards, it was none stop, even when she started shivering uncontrollably, Bea really couldn’t do much, she tried to hold onto her but Allie would wriggle out any way she could.

“You stupid fucking bitch, can’t you see what you are doing to me? Let me the fuck out!”

This time Bea managed to get a tight hold on her, pulling her down to the bed and holding her as close as she could, the whole night Bea couldn’t shake off the butterflies in her stomach, it was crazy. Allie lay shivering in her arms for another 2 hours before Bea noticed that she had stopped, her breathing had evened out and she had fallen asleep, she held onto her for a little longer just to make sure she was asleep, when she was sure she was asleep she peeled herself away from Allie, she really could use a shower, grabbing her bag she went into the bathroom locking the door behind her. She took the quickest shower she ever had in her life, dressing herself in dark blue skinny jeans and a white t shirt. Going back to the bedroom she found Allie was still asleep, not wanting to disturb her she just sat on the end of the bed until she felt movement.

“Bea, are you still her?”

“Course I am, didn’t I say I wouldn’t leave you?”

“You did, but you were right here with me when I fell asleep”

“Sorry, I needed a shower, and I didn’t want to disturb you when I came back”

“I wouldn’t have minded, I still can’t believe you are still here”

“I made you a promise, I’m not leaving you”

Allie went quiet for a minute.

“I think I could use a shower, I stink, at least you only had to put up with me throwing up, last time I caused Kaz a right headache when I shit myself” she laughed.

“I think you might be better off having a bath you know, you might still be a bit unsteady”

“Hmmm, you could you right, could you check what Kaz sent over for me?”

Bea reached over to get Allies bag and placed it on the bed, Allie sat up and moved closer to Bea,

“Hope she didn’t forget clean undies” Allie giggled

“Guess you better check, I’ll go and run you a bath”

A little while later Allie entered the bathroom, Bea had her back to Allie and didn’t hear her enter, Allie couldn’t help staring at Bea’s arse, “fuck, get over yourself, she could never be interested in you” Allie thought to herself, just then Bea turned around and their eyes met, Bea felt her cheeks flush and she knew she was blushing, her eyes dropped to the floor and she shuffled off passed Allie mumbling

“I’ll leave you to it, give me a shout if you need anything.” She really was hoping that Allie hadn’t actually heard what she said.

“Oh, I so will” Allie replied with a smirk before shutting the door.

Bea knew that the worst of it was over but it wasn’t out of her system yet, she still had a long way to go, and she couldn’t stay here forever, she had to think, but it was hard, she didn’t want to go back to Kaz, maybe she would change her mind but Bea doubted it, she needed to find a safe place for her to stay but where? She couldn’t think, she was too tired to think, instead she dropped Debbie a text.

**Hey Deb, hope everything is ok**

She didn’t expect to receive a reply as it was still early so she crawled up the bed and lay on her back staring at the ceiling, her eyes lids felt so heavy and she dozed off.

Allie finished in the bathroom, still feeling a bit shaky and was still really tired, she couldn’t believe it, Bea asleep, she took a couple of minutes to really look at her, and god did she think she was gorgeous, right then she had an overwhelming urge just to kiss her, “fuck sake, she’s got a kid, if there’s a kid there’s a man around somewhere” she mentally scolded herself. But she couldn’t take her eyes off her, tiredness took hold of Allie and she had to sleep, climbing on the bed next to Bea she lay down and closed her eyes.

A couple of hours later Bea slowly opened her eyes feeling a weight over her stomach and legs, raising her head from the pillow she saw that Allie had an arm over her stomach and leg over both of hers. Bea really needed to get up but she didn’t want to disturb Allie so really tried hard to ignore the need to pee. She lay there for about five minutes before the realisation hit her, she liked laying there with Allie like this, it felt right, she felt safe and warm, that scared her, she had never in her life wanted to lay with anyone like this, “what the fuck is wrong with me,” she thought. She tried going over what Allie had said the previous day about her parents, “when she told them what?” She wondered, was it drugs then, had she had this problem for so long? She shook her head trying to clear the thoughts from her head, but she had to know and the only way she would find out was to ask Allie. She couldn’t wait any longer, she peeled Allie from her slowly so she could get up and use the bathroom.

Returning from the bathroom Allie was awake, she looked at a Bea

“You’re making a habit of this.”

Bea looked at her with a puzzled expression on her face

“Making a habit of what?”

“Leaving me while I’m sleeping,” Allie giggled.

“I didn’t want to, I just really needed to pee, I…I wouldn’t have left you if I didn’t need to.”

“Hey, it’s ok, so what else have you got hidden in those bags of yours?”

“Just snacks, we have to eat, you need to keep your energy up, are you hungry?”

“Honestly I’m not sure”

“Well I am!”

Bea grabbed a couple of bottles of water handing one to Allie before grabbing the bag full of snacks and emptied the contents on the bed before she flopped back down on the bed beside Allie.

“We really should eat.”

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

Thirty minutes later Bea had totally stuffed her face with chips and chocolate, Allie only managing to eat a small bag of chips when Bea’s phone beeped.

**Sorry mum, only just woke up, is everything going ok?**

**Thought I was the one who asked you that?**

**You did and it is, Maxi came over with Boomer and pizza we had a right laugh! How is everything going?**

**Better than I expected, although I may be away an extra night will you be ok with that?**

**Sure mum, I’m going over to the salon to spend the day with Maxi, Doreen and Boomer, stop worrying about me, how is Allie, things still bad?**

**We made it through the night, she seems a little brighter this morning.**

**Good, just concentrate on doing what you feel is right, I’ll call you later**

Bea put her phone down and looked over at Allie

“Everything ok?”

“Yer is was just Debbie checking in?”

“Is that your daughter?”

“Yes, 18 going on 40,” Bea laughed

“Bet her dad is looking after her while you’re stuck here with me”

“Her dad! He’s long gone, trust me if he was still around I wouldn’t be sitting here with you now.”

“Tell me about her”

“Who? Debbie? What do you want to know?”

“Everything!”

They were talking for over an hour until Bea realised that Allie had fallen asleep again, not wanting to disturb her she stayed on the bed grabbing her phone so she could check in with Frankie and Liz. Hearing that everything was fine in the office, Frankie had taken on a new case but nothing she couldn’t handle on her own. Ending her call she decided to call Maxine, she had always been her go to person when she needed advice or to just run ideas past someone. She smiled remembering how it was Maxine who had encouraged her to do something new, Bea had always loved working at the salon but after everything with Harry then the divorce she had become restless, Maxine was the best person to go to now.

“Bea, how is everything?”

  
“All things considered not bad, it was rough trying to get through the night, she’s asleep again now”

“That’s good then hun, but how are you?”

“I’m fine Maxi, but I need your advice”

“If I can help you know I will, what is it?”

“Well Allie can’t stay here forever, she doesn’t want to go back home, I need to find somewhere safe for her, any ideas?”

“Bea hun, you know I just might have a solution, can I call you back?”

“I’ll be right here”

“I’ll call you back within the hour, bye Bea”

Bea never got a chance to say anything else Maxine hung up, “hope that means she has a good idea,” she said to herself. Putting her phone down she looked back over at Allie who had now turned over onto her side facing her, she lay there silently studying get her, her blond hair that Bea thought way too long, and the green highlights did nothing for her, “nothing that a cut and colour couldn’t fix,” she thought out loud.

“Hmm, what about a cut and colour?”

“Oh, sorry, didn’t realise you were awake.” Bea felt her cheeks flush and she suddenly found the leg of her jeans very interesting.

“Hey Bea, what about a cut and colour? You sayin’ you don’t like my hair?” Allie said with a snigger.

“Just thinking out loud, but I reckon you’d look better with your hair shorter and lighter”

“Yer, you know a good hairdresser? And they need to be cheap cos I’m kinda low on cash”

“I might know someone, might even do it for free if you behave yourself.”

“Oh, I’m intrigued, ya gotta tell me who.”

“Never mind hairdressing, how are you feeling?”

“A little better I think, guess I’m lucky really I was only back on the gear for two weeks, couple of more weeks and it would have been worse”

“Lucky for both of us then” Bea laughed.

“Bea, ya know what, I’m hungry.”

“Yer, that’s good. There’s a deli not far away, will you be ok here if I go get us something to eat?”

“Lock me in won’t ya? Don’t want to be tempted to leg it, not after all you’ve done for me.”

“If that’s what you want, anything you fancy?”

“How about stripping you naked and fucking you right here,” she thought to herself. “Errr, no, you decide.”

“Ok, I’ll head over there now, but if you think of anything you want call me yer?”

“I could use a can of coke if you don’t mind,”

“Can of coke, got it.”

Bea got her bag and picked up her phone, retrieving the room key from her pocket she left Allie alone, making sure to lock the door behind herself. When she reached reception she didn’t recognise the guy behind the desk so just headed out to the deli. Ordering a ham salad sandwich and a chicken and mayo sandwich with two portions of chicken soup. She didn’t have to wait long for her order, after she paid she left the deli and went to the shop next door and picked up six cans of coke, then headed back to the hotel.

Stopping outside their room door for a second she called out to Allie before unlocking the door, once back inside she found Allie laying on her stomach head resting in her hands watching tv.

“That was quick,” Allie said in a more playful tone than Bea had heard from her yet

“I got lucky, must have timed it right, there was no one in the deli”

Handing the bag to Allie,

“Take you pick, I’m not fussy what I have, oh here you go handing her the other bag with the cans of Coke in it.”

“Bea I said one can of Coke not six.”

“Complaints, complaints, complaints” Bea chuckled.

Just then Bea’s phone rung, retrieving it from her bag she saw Maxine’s name on the screen

“Hey Maxi”

“Bea,” Maxine said excitement evident in her voice, “problem solved, Booms has got a spare room at her place that she wants to rent out, she said that Allie could have first refusal”

“Boomer? Is she sure? I mean she’s never even met her!”

“Booms says that if you trust her then that’s good enough for her, so run it past her, see what she says and let me know ok hun”

“Thanks Maxi, better go now, speak to you later”

“Speak later hun.”

Putting her phone down on the bed she looked over at Allie, she was happily sat at the edge of the bed, sandwich in one hand, can of Coke in the other. Bea smiled, she couldn’t help it, seeing Allie starting to look happy, like she imagined she had before this made her feel happy, like she had made a difference. Taking her time to study her, she looked so innocent, she couldn’t help but admit to herself that even with the bruising she was beautiful, and there it was again, the butterflies in her stomach, the lump in her throat, “this again” she thought.

“Bea….Bea….Bea!”

“Yes, sorry, did you need something?”

“You were staring at me.”

“Was I? Sorry, I….I….I didn’t mean to,” her cheeks flushing again.

“That’s cute”

“Errr, what is?”

“You, blushing, do you always do that?”

“I don’t know, never noticed it happen before.”

“No! It’s been happening since last night, do I embarrass you?”

“No, not at all,” changing the subject quickly, “glad to see you eating”

“Yer, didn’t think I was hungry until I took a bite, are you going to eat or just stand there?”

Allie held the other sandwich out to Bea who took it from her and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Listen Allie, you can’t stay here forever”

“I’m not going back to Kaz’s”

“I’m not saying you have to, one of my friends, Boomer, has a spare room that she wants to rent out and she’s giving you first refusal if you want it, obviously you’ll want to see the room first and there’s no pressure, but it might be good for you to have your own space, and Boomers really easy going”

“Bea, your rambling.”

“Am I? Sorry!”

“Yes, but that’s quite cute to ya know,” Beas cheeks flushed again, “Boomer?”

“Her names Susan, she works with Maxine at the salon I used to work at, she used to bugger off every couple of months and then come back asking for her job back, we used to joke that she was like a boomerang, ya know, always comes back, and the name kinda stuck.”

“Hang on, you’re a hairdresser?”

“Not anymore, I used to be but I needed a change, so I got my certificate in investigative services then got my licence, and here I am, a private investigator at your service.”

“Wow, that was a big change”

“Do you enjoy it?”

“Most of the time, unless it’s some shitty online investigation, I leave Franky to do that kind of thing”

“Franky?”

“Oh yer, Franky, she works with me, well she’s meant to work with me, sometimes it feels like she’s working against me.”

“So this room you mentioned, do you think Boomer would really let me stay?”

“I know she would, you’ll like her, she bloody funny….so how about tomorrow we arrange for you to see the room? I’ll take you over, you can meet Booms, might even take you to the salon to meet Maxi, what do you say?”

“I think I’d like that.”

The rest of the day they spent chatting about nothing and everything, time flew. Bea called Maxine and asked her to get Boomer to phone her the next morning to arrange a time to take Allie over. She phone Kaz to let her know how Allie was doing and to tell her that she had possibly found a place for her to stay until she was ready to go home, Kaz was happy that she was doing well but still a little upset that she didn’t want to go home, but she tried to understand. Before they both knew it it was 7pm.

“Allie, I fancy pizza, are you hungry?”

“Starving”

“That’s settled then I’ll call out for pizza and get it delivered to reception”

Bea called for pizza then called down to reception asking to be called when the pizza arrived. 40 minutes later the phone rang it was reception.

“I’m going to pick up the pizza, I’m not locking you in ok?”

“I’m not going anywhere, I don’t want to”

Bea smiled and headed off to collect and pay for the pizza.

“Everything ok Bea?”

“Yes, everything’s fine, oh yes I need to pay you for the extra nights before I forget.”

“Na Bea, forget it, have this on me”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind paying.”  
“I’m sure, now get out of here before that pizza gets cold”

Getting back to the room she found Allie quite contentedly watching tv. They ate their pizza, watched tv for a while until Allie decided she was going for a shower. Bea decided that now was just as good a time as any to give Debbie a call.

“Hey mum, how’s things?”

“Good Ded, Allie’s feeling much better”

“Maxi said that she’s going to live with Booms”

“Wow, slow down, she agreed to meet Booms and look at the room”

“Yer but come on, once she meets Booms she’ll love her, who doesn’t?”

“Your probably right, but ya never know”

“Mum, can I meet Allie?”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, I just want to, she kinda took you away from me for the last couple of days, I’d just like to meet her”

Allie appears back out of the bathroom dressed ready for bed.

“Maybe Deb, it’s not up to me really is it?”

“So ask her”

“Ok, ok, I will, I better be going now Deb, I love you”

“To the moon and back, night mum”

“Night Deb.”

“Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt your phone call”

“Hey, you didn’t, you look tired.”

“I am a bit, but I’m going to watch tv”

“Well you do that while I go for a shower, I won’t be long”

Allie lay on her stomach watching tv while Bea was in the shower, by the time Bea was finished Allie was half asleep.

“Allie, get in bed before you fall asleep”

“Hmm, I’m not tired!”  
“So that’s why you’re watching tv with your eyes half closed is it?”

“I’m not!”

“Yes you are, get your butt into bed and get some sleep”

“Yes boss” Allie giggled

They both got into bed, Allie under the covers Bea only having her feet under the covers, Allie was soon asleep, Bea on the other hand couldn’t sleep, she tried but the last couple of days were just going round and round in her head. Then there were the strange feelings she kept having, she couldn’t get her head round why it kept happening, she’d heard people talk about feeling like that when they were around someone they really liked, but Bea had only ever had it happen when she was around Allie, “Allie’s a woman, and I’m not gay” she thought to herself. She knew she wasn’t even doing a great job of convincing herself, but Bea was adamant that she was straight, “I’m not gay” she kept saying to herself until she finally fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still got loads of free time so chapter 6 should be up tomorrow


	6. Chapter 6

Bea woke up after a few hours of restless sleep, picking up her phone and checking the time, 6:48am, she groaned loudly, but even that didn’t disturb Allie who was curled into Bea’s side, one arm wrapped around her waist and one leg laying over the top of hers, her head so close to Bea’s neck that she could feel her breath. She gulped down the lump in her throat, her heart beating so fast and so loud that she was wondering if she might have a heart attack any second, butterflies having another party in her stomach and now the realisation of yet another foreign feeling, a throbbing between her legs, something she knew she had defiantly never experienced in her life, not with Harry, not with anyone, well except for right here right now with Allie. She squeezed her eyes tight shut trying to ignore the feelings but it wasn’t helping. Half of her wanted to move, wanted to get away from Allie, run away and never go back, but the other half of her felt so comfortable, safe and secure that she didn’t care if she never moved from Allie’s sleeping embrace for the rest of her life. She turned her head to look at a soundly sleeping Allie, “god, she really is beautiful” she thought to herself, raking her eyes over every inch of her face as if she was trying to memorise it, like she might disappear before her eyes never to be seen again. She was lost in her own thoughts so much so that she didn’t notice that Allie had woken up.

“Bea, you’re staring at me again!”

“What! No….no I wasn’t….I was just thinking,” her blush matching the colour of her hair.

“Care to share?”

“Nothing for you to worry about”

“You sure? I’m a good listener.”

“No, it’s fine, I’m good.”  
“Shit I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to invade your space” Allie quickly moved to her own side of the bed leaving a disappointed Bea on her side of the bed.

“What time is it?”

Bea picked her phone back up to check the time, 8:09am, “where did the time go” she wondered.

“Just gone 8am”

“ wow, I had a really great sleep, how did you sleep?”

“Really good,” she lied not wanting to have to answer any difficult questions that Allie might throw her way if she said anything else. Allie sat up resting her back against the headboard.

“Sooooo, when do we have to meet Boomer?”

“Not sure yet, I’m waiting for her to phone me.”

“And there was me thinking that you would have it all sorted out so I couldn’t try to get out of it.”

“And why would you think that? It’s your decision, if you don’t want to meet her and look at the room you don’t have to, but I won’t let you back out there on the streets alone, so what am I going to do with you if you decide you don’t want to?”

“Well you could take me home with you!”

Bea just looked at her wide eyed, it’s not like she hadn’t thought of it that morning but shrugged it off, she knew she’d take her home with her in a heartbeat if she had to but really she could use some distance from Allie to try and work out what the hell was going on with her.

“I guess if things don’t work out with Booms I suppose I wouldn’t have a choice would I?”

“Bea, I was joking, I’m sure I’m going to love Boomer, and love living with her.”

“Errr, yer, think I’m going to go for a shower, if my phone rings will you answer it then give me a shout? Got no bloody idea what time Booms will call.”

“If your sure”

“Yes, I’m sure”

Bea rummaged through her bag to find what she needed then went into the bathroom for a shower.  
Allie lay back on the bed, she could hear the water running and she couldn’t help letting her imagination wonder to not so innocent places, there was only a door between her and a very naked Bea, Allie knew she hadn’t locked the door behind her because she would have heard that. She couldn’t help drifting off into a Bea induced haze, wondering what would happen if she just walked into the bathroom and got in the shower with her right now, would she scare her off? She didn’t want to risk it, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it, imagining what she would feel like under her hands. Just at that second Beas phone began ringing and Allie nearly jumped out of her skin, rolling onto Bea’s side of the bed she grabbed her phone to answer it.

“Hello”

“Bea, is that you, you sound different”

“Sorry, this is Allie, Bea’s in the shower, hang on she asked me to shout her”

Getting up from the bed she went to the bathroom door and opened it just a little,

“Bea, phone”

“Thanks, I’m guessing it’s Boom’s, will you just tell her I’ll be there in a sec”

Allie closed the door and walked back to the bed.

“Bea says she’ll only be a second”

“Typical, only bloody woman I know who doesn’t take her phone with her everywhere she goes” Boomer laughed.

“So I’m guessing your Allie, am I right or am I right err?”

“You got it in one”

Just then Bea came out of the bathroom still wet with only a towel wrapped round her. Allie held her phone out to Bea her jaw almost hitting the floor, this was just too much, a half naked Bea stood right in front of her.

“Booms”

“Bea, so what times best for you? Maxi said I can take some time off to show Allie the room”

“How does 11am sound, that gives both of us plenty of time to get ready?”

“Sounds good Bea, Maxi wants you to go round the salon after, can I cadge a lift back?”

“Hey no problem Booms, we’ll see you at 11am then”

“Yer, see ya Bea”

“See you later Booms”

Bea tossed her phone on the bed.

“Hey that’s ok with you isn’t it, 11am, not too early for you? I thought we could get ready then grab some breakfast.”

All Allie could do was nod her head, too afraid that she wouldn’t be able to get any words out no matter how hard she tried. “How can she just stand there in just a bloody towel?” She thought to herself.

“Allie, are you alright?”  
“Yes” was all she could manage to croak out.

Bea went back to the bathroom to finish getting ready, ten minutes later she was back in the bedroom.

“Bathrooms all yours”

Allie just nodded, grabbed her bag and took what she needed from it before going into the bathroom. Thirty minutes later she reappeared. Bea had her head down looking at her phone when Allie came back, she looked up and smiled at her.

“So, do you feel like going to get a late breakfast?”

“Why not?” Allie shrugged.

“Come on then, I think you could do with a change of scenery don’t you?”

“Oh I don’t know the scenery is pretty good from where I’m stood” she thought to herself, “you might be right.”

“So what are we waiting for?”

Bea got up from the bed and headed for the door, Allie followed her across the room and out the door. Bea locked the door behind them and started walking down the stairs, Allie couldn’t help but watch her, the sway of her hips, and that arse, oh god that arse, it took all her self control not to reach out and grab it. Reaching reception Bea turned round and looked at Allie who by now was walking with her head down trying not to let Bea know that she couldn’t take her eyes off her.

“I know a great little coffee shop not far from Boomer’s place, I think we should go there, what do you think?”

“Doesn’t matter to me, I’ll go wherever you like”

And Allie really meant that, she would gladly walk over hot coals if it meant she could be with Bea, she knew she was in trouble, how could Bea ever be interested in someone like her, she knew what she was, seen her at one of the lowest points of her life, and she’d helped her not because she wanted to but because Kaz was paying her, even though Bea had said that Kaz had only asked her to find Allie, she couldn’t get her head round why Bea would willingly want to help her if there wasn’t something in it for her. No one wanted Allie, she was a fuck up, the relationships she had had in the past were not what she wanted, she never received the love that she craved so desperately, all she wanted was to feel loved and needed and in her 27 years never once had she ever felt that. She knew it would be stupid to think that she could ever have anything like that with Bea, just because it was what she wanted didn’t mean she would get it, and Allie knew too well that she never got what she wanted. She had so many questions that she wanted to ask Bea, most of them she was too afraid to ask, at least just now. Allie just followed on behind Bea until Bea came to a stop by her car, Allie hadn’t noticed that Bea had stopped walking and walked straight into Bea.

“Allie, where are you? What’s going on in your head?”

“Sorry, I was just thinking, didn’t see you there.”

“You sure you’re ready for this?”

“Yes, come on let’s just get going already”

They got into Beas car and drove away, 15 minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop. Allie hadn’t said much on the drive over and Bea was getting a bit worried about her. Bea nudged her out of her thoughts.

“Come on, let’s get a coffee and something to eat”

“Yer, lets, I’m bloody starving”

“Oh god, I’m out numbered, first Franky and now you, its like having three Debbie’s,” Bea joked.

“I don’t get it” Allie looked puzzled until Bea explained and then all Allie could do was laugh.

“You better feed me now!”

Entering the coffee shop they found a table, Allie sat down and Bea went to order, it wasn’t very busy and a couple of minutes later a waitress arrived with two coffee’s and two plates of pancakes.

“This places does the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted so tuck in.”

Allie gave her a small smile before starting to eat.

“Hmmm, you’re right these are really good.”

“Told ya.” Bea grinned back at her.

When they had finished eating they set off for Boomers, arriving with five minutes to spare. Bea sent a quick text to Boomer letting her know that she was outside waiting for her.

“May as well get out and stretch our legs while we wait”

Allie just shrugged before reaching for the handle to get out. Allie leaned back against the car her head hanging down, trying not to look at Bea, but she couldn’t help taking side glances at her when she stood right beside her. A few seconds later, she heard some one shouting and looked up.

“Bea” Boomer squealed excitedly as she ran towards them, wrapping her arms around Bea in a bear hug and lifting her off her feet as soon as she reached them.

“Booms…….fuck sake put me down will ya?”

“Oh,…errrr…..sorry Bea, I’ve missed ya”

“ well now I’m here, anyway, Booms this is Allie, Allie this is Booms”

Allie moved away from the car and turned to face Boomer, extending her hand expecting Boomer to shake it, boy was she wrong, Booms took a couple of steps towards Allie and pulled her into a hug.

“Good to meet ya, any one who’s ok with Bea is cool with me, and Bea don’t like a lot of people ya know!”

“It’s good to meet you to Boomer”

Boomer led the way to her house chatting excitedly with Bea as they went, once inside they followed her through the house until they stopped outside the door of the spare room. Boomer gestured to Allie to open the door.

“Right, well yer, it’s nothing fancy, but ya got a double bed and everything ya will need,…bathrooms just down the hall I’ll show you in a minute, my rooms across the hall so make sure ya keep the noise down right, ya want it don’t ya? Please say ya do blondie, I’d rather have someone who knows Bea than a stranger……yer….so what do ya think?”

“Well, Boomer…..I think…..I LOVE IT, when can I move in?”

“Yer, you mean it, like really mean it?”

Allie just nodded looking between Boomer and Bea with the brightest smile on her face, she couldn’t help that smile, in that moment she felt like the happiest person on the whole planet, living with Boomer would be different she knew that, but if there was a chance she would be able to see Bea a little more that suited her.

“Yesss, oh blondie we are going to have so much fun, we can have movie nights, and get the girls round, Bea you’ll be up for that won’t ya once Debbie leaves?”

“Booms, calm down will ya, and yer, I guess I’ll be up for a few girls nights, now come on, give Allie a chance to speak will ya?”

“Oh, yer, sorry blondie, I just get carried away sometimes ya know!”

“It’s ok Boomer, I guess I could move in tomorrow if that’s alright with you, I need to get my things from my old place first.”

Boomer spent the next twenty minutes showing Allie were everything was while Bea made herself at home in the lounge.

“Right, so Bea, can you drop me back at the salon? Ya know Maxine and Doreen can’t cope with out me.”

“No problem Booms, I was going to take Allie to the salon anyways, she was interested to see where I used to work, and Maxi would like to meet her. Let’s get going!”

Arriving at the salon, Boomer jumped out of the back seat and bolted into the salon.  
Bea looked over at Allie,

“So are you ready?”

“I think so, I’m a little nervous to meet your friends”

“Don’t be, Maxi is lovely”  
They got out of the car and headed into the salon, Allie following sheepishly behind Bea, a little nervous but enjoying watching Bea from behind non the less.

“Bea!” Maxine and Doreen said at the same time.

“Ladies,” she half turned to face Allie, “this is Allie”

Maxine closed the gap between them bringing Allie into a hug

“Good to meet you hun, I take it our Bea here has been taking good care of you?”

“Yes, she has, she’s been great”

Bea hadn’t noticed the small glances that Allie kept shooting in her direction, but Maxine was way more observant and spotted it instantly, she smiled a small smile to herself. They spent some time chatting before saying their goodbyes. Once back seated in Bea’s car Allie was quiet again, it didn’t go un noticed by Bea.

“Allie, are you sure you’re ok with everything?”

“Yes, I think so, it’s just going to be strange ya know.”

“Im sure you’ll soon find your feet,”

“I need to find a job, and how am I going to pay Boomer until I find a job?”

“Hey, stop worrying, it’s all in hand, now would you be ok if we swing by my office? I just need to check in, make sure Franky’s not running the place into the ground!”

“I guess, I can just wait in the car.”

“Hey come on, you’ve seen where I used to work, don’t you want to see where I work now?”

“Well, yes, I guess I am curious”

“That’s settled then.”

Arriving outside Bea’s office twenty minutes later Allie started to feel more nervous, Bea sensed a change in Allie straight away, reaching over the centre console she took Allie’s right hand in hers and gave it a little squeeze, Allie turned her head to look at Bea who was already looking at her, their eyes met and in the few seconds that they held each other’s gaze Allie knew she was already lost in a world that revolved entirely around Bea, nothing was going to change that now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may manage another chapter today, it's raining so I haven't got much else to occupy myself with.


	7. Chapter 7

Bea walks through the front door to her office, Allie hangs back a little nervously following her, looking around only seeing Liz, the door to Franky’s office is closed and it’s quiet.Liz looked up from the magazine that she was reading,

“Bea, are you back for good or just checking up on us?”

“Ha, don’t you mean checking up on Franky, I never have to worry about you Liz.”

Liz spots Allie by the door still unsure if she really should go in or not,

“So who do we have here then?”

Bea turned around seeing the nervousness on Allies face she takes the few steps back to her and places her hands on Allies shoulders,

“They won’t bite you know, well at least I know Liz won’t, Franky might if you ask her!” She laughs.

Allie lets go of a small nervous laugh not wanting to move from that spot, Bea drops her hands from her shoulders taking hold of her hand and lightly pulls her through the door.

“Liz, this is Allie, Allie this is Liz”

“Nice to meet you love, so it’s you that’s been keeping Bea so busy, that’s a god thing it’s been dead round here since she left, and you know she gets awfully cranky when she gets bored,” Liz laughs.

“So is Doyle hiding out in her office or has she not gotten her arse in here yet?”

Before Liz could answer Franky’s office door swung open

“Sup Smith, just can’t stay away from me can ya?”

“In your dreams Doyle”

“So who’s this then, you been keepin’ blondie all to ya self?”

“Franky!.....This is Allie, you know the person you wanted me to give up looking for!”

“Na red, I never said give up! I….well I just thought,….shit ok you win”

Bea looked over at Allie,

“See told you, Franky here is all bark and no bite,”

Allie giggled, that giggle got Bea every time she heard it, she just loved to see Allie smile, she loved hearing her laugh, their eyes met again, all that mattered right in that moment was Allie, Bea hadn’t even heard Franky trying to get her attention.

“Red…..Red……RED!”

“What the fuck Franky, I’m not deaf!”

“Na but you were so caught up there with blondie you never heard me”

“Fuck are you on about Franky?”

“Never thought I’d see the day, you on your way over to meet me on the dark side Red?”

“Shut the fuck up Franky, my office now.”

Bea turned to Allie,

“Take a seat I won’t be long, that little shit needs sorting out, Liz will look after you, I won’t be long”

Bea disappeared into her office closing the door behind her, Franky sitting on Bea’s desk smirking,

“Hit a nerve there did I Red”

“Shut the fuck up Franky"

“Hell no, you’ve been gone for two days, you don’t call, you don’t write, I’m hurt Bea,”

“Franky, I’m not doing this with you now.”

“Doing what Red? I’m only askin’ what’s goin’ on, I mean the way you were looking at blondie out there, never seen ya look at anyone like that before, come on talk to Auntie Franky."

Bea rolled her eyes and shrugged before flopping down in her chair.

“Franky, nothing is going on, I’m doing my job and you know it,”

“Do I? I was under the impression that your job was to find her, not shack up with her in a hotel!”

“Can we let this go?”

“What ever you need Red, but if you need any advice I’m here, but come on tell me, what ya been up to?"

“Franky!"

Franky just held her hands up in defeat.

“So anything new, how’s the case going you picked up?”

“All sorted, I left the file on your desk for you to give it the once over,”

“Nothing else has come in?”

“Na, I think people knew ya were away from the office and stayed away” she laughed.

“Oh well It’s Friday, think I’ll keep the office closed tomorrow, Allie’s moving in with Booms”

“Shit really, now that I have to see, I hope blondie’s made of strong stuff”

“I think she’ll be just fine.”

“So I just need to phone Kaz, let her know what’s going on, so if you don’t mind…..”

“Ok, ok, I can take a hint” Franky is halfway out of the door

“And leave Allie alone, you hear me Franky?”

“Right , got it, leave blondie alone.”

\------------------------------

Bea calls Kaz asking if she can drop the rest of Allie’s things over at the office, Kaz agrees on the condition that she asks Allie to text her, Bea agrees to that, but reminds Kaz that she might still not be ready.  
Bea was just getting ready to leave her office when she heard Frankie

“So blondie, fancy coming for a drink with me instead of hangin’ out with grandma Bea?”

“No thanks, I have my standards and you certainly don’t fall into them”

“I’m wounded!....so what does fall into your standards? Wouldn’t happen to be a certain red head?”

“Keep digging Franky, you might manage to dig your own grave.”

Liz can’t help but laugh, Frankie laughs as does Allie, Bea opens her office door a little smirk on her face. Franky turns to look at Bea,

“Oh shit Red, I like this one, can we keep her?” She chuckles,

“Think that’s up to Allie don’t you?”

“So Franky, Kaz is going to drop Allie’s things off here in a hour, can you handle that? You can both take off then and I’ll see you both on Monday.”

“Yes sure thing, I got it”

“Come on then Allie, let’s get out of here before I have to cause Franky some serious bodily harm”

\-------------------------------

Back at the hotel Bea is deep in thought while Allie is watching tv.

“Allie, you ready to get out of here?”

“Huh, I thought I was moving into Boomers tomorrow?” A slight look of confusion on her face

“Yer, but I was thinking, you could come home with me for tonight, we’ve got a spare room, and Debbie said she would like to meet you.”

“Really? I…errr…I don’t know, I mean….I’d like to….but…”

“That’s settled then, we’re going.”  
“I don’t remember saying yes”

“You were going to though!”

“That’s presumptuous of you.”

Allie lies back on the bed never taking her eyes off Bea,

“So you’d rather stay here?”

“Didn’t say that.”

“So your coming home with me them?”

“Didn’t say that either.”

“So….what do I have to do to convince you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh, right, will this make you agree with me then?

Bea launched herself onto the bed and started tickling Allie, Allie hated to be tickled,

“Bea, Bea….Bea…..stop, I give in”

“Yer, you mean it?”

“NO!”

Bea carried on tickling Allie and hadn’t even noticed that she had inched her way on top of Allie, not until she was gazing into Allie’s eyes, she couldn’t move, she just froze, her whole body felt like it was on fire, looking between Allie’s eyes and her lips, the urge to kiss her becoming stronger every second she lay there.

“Bea, I know I don’t mind but I kinda think you should get up now.”

“What! Shit! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…..” she trailed off, her face as red as her hair, she dragged herself off Allie and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…..”

“Bea it’s fine, if you still want me to I’d love to go home with you, or you could go and I’ll just stay here, you can come and get me tomorrow.” She sighed as she finished her sentence.

“What, no, no I’m not leaving you here on your own…it’s settled then, get your things together and I’m taking you home with me.”

Allie quickly got up off the bed checking to make sure that she had got everything.

“I’m ready!”  
“Before we go I have to tell you something, Kaz asked me to ask you to text her, I told her you might not want to, but I’ve passed the message on now.”

“I’ll, think about it, can we just go now?”

“Yer, come on”

Allie was just about to pick her bag up when Bea reached for it at the same time causing there fingers to brush, and they both felt it, a jolt of electricity shot through their bodies. Bea’s moth was dry, and she tried to swallow the lump in her throat, their eyes met briefly and once again Bea blushed, she knew she was blushing, and she hated it.

“I’ll get the bags” Bea managed to rasp out her voice much lower than before

“Want me to lock the door?”

“Please,” was all Bea could manage.

Leaving the room they went to reception, handed in the room key before making their way to Beas car. Bea unlocked it telling Allie to get in while she put their bags in the boot. Taking her phone out of her pocket she noticed a text from Frankie.

**Kaz dropped blondies stuff off, I put it in your office, see ya Monday**

She saw no need to reply to that so sent a quick text to Debbie

**On my way home, bringing Allie with me hope you don’t mind her staying over. Decide what you want for dinner and we’ll order in**

She put her phone back in her pocket and got in the car, she hoped Debbie wasn’t going to mind, she really didn’t want to stay in that hotel another night, tomorrow was going to be a fresh start for Allie and she wanted to get her away from the area today, “ no time like the present,” she thought to herself before she drove off heading for home, pleased that Allie was sitting beside her, she really didn’t want to leave her behind, she wasn’t sure why, but this felt right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will have another chapter ready for tomorrow, not sure I will manage two chapters but you never know


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your comments, I really do appreciate them. So here you go another chapter.

Arriving home Bea jumped out of her car and went to the boot to get their bags. Allie froze, her whole body felt heavy, she wanted to be here, she wanted to be wherever Bea was, but now she was here sitting outside Bea’s home, knowing that Debbie was inside she was scared, she had meant to ask Bea how much Debbie knew about her situation, it was obvious that Bea had spoken to her but how much had she shared. Bea opened the passenger door, Allie didn’t move, she just stared straight ahead. Bea dropped the bags and crouched Down beside Allie, taking her hand in her’s,

“Allie, is everything alright?”

Allie didn’t answer, she just sat there. Bea placed her hand on the side of Allie’s face and gently turned her head so she was facing her, she had a vacant expression.

“Allie, sweetie, what’s wrong? Allie look at me, Allie?”

Bea hadn’t noticed that Debbie had opened the door and was standing there watching this exchange between her mum and Allie, she had never seen her mum look at anyone the way she was looking at Allie, she wasn’t quite sure what was going on, she didn’t want to intrude so slowly went back inside closing the door quietly behind her.

“Allie, please” Bea pleaded

“What, errr, Bea…..I shouldn’t be here, Debbie will hate me….I….I need to go!”

“I asked you here, Debbie isn’t going to hate you, why would you even think that?”

“She will, I’m disgusting,”

“Allie, stop! You aren’t disgusting, I don’t know how or why you ended up on the streets before Kaz found you, it’s not my place to ask, and I never will, if you feel able to tell me then I will listen, I will never judge you, I have my own demons, everyone has a past and things happen that we aren’t proud of, trust me when I tell you this, I have brought Debbie up to be kind, caring and compassionate, she won’t see you any differently than I do.”

“I want to believe you”

“You’ve met Frankie and Liz, they know why I was looking for you, they know where I found you and what you had been doing to survive, they haven’t judged you have they?”

“No”

“You met Maxine, and she knows as well, she didn’t judge you, she was pleased to meet you. Tomorrow your moving in with Booms, and as loud and annoying as she is she has a heart of gold, she will stick by you no matter what, she’ll never judge you. They are my friends, I wasn’t responsible for how they were raised, yet I know they will never judge you because that’s how they all are, so trust me, please, I’m responsible for the person Debbie is, and I know she would never judge you.”

“Are you sure?” Allie whimpered.

“Have I lied to you yet?”

“No!”

“Then please, come inside, because if you don’t I’m going to have a very grumpy daughter on my hands if she doesn’t get fed soon, and trust me you really don’t want to deal with my grumpy food monster”

“Ok, but, you won’t leave me?”

“No, why would you even think that, plus it would be hard to leave you when you’re in my house don’t you think?”, Bea smiled at Allie and Allie giggled.

“That’s better, now come on”  
Allie was still unsure but she knew that since she had first met Bea she had never given her any reason to doubt her, and no matter how unsure she was feeling right now she knew one thing, she wanted to be with Bea, Bea made her feel safe, no one had ever made her feel as safe not even Kaz had managed that, and it was a feeling that she never wanted to let go.

\------------------------------

“Deb I’m home”

“I’m so glad, I’m starving, can we order pizza?”

“Yes Deb, what ever you want.”

“Great, I’m phoning them now,” Bea rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“See I told you, she’s a food monster, I have no idea where she puts it all.”

Bea flopped down on the sofa and groaned, gesturing for Allie to sit down. Allie perched on he edge of the sofa as far away from Bea as she could be, she was afraid of Debbie’s reaction to her being there and she didn’t want to give her any reason to get upset about her presence.

“Allie, relax already would you?”

She glanced over at Bea and dipped her head. Debbie walked back into the lounge,

“Pizza should be here in about 40 minutes, I ordered two 16”pizzas”

“How many people are you feeding Deb? There’s only three of us here.”

“I’m starving!” Debbie replied trying to look innocent.

Debbie looked at her mum then at Allie who shifted herself uncomfortably, she wanted to say something but didn’t know what to say.

“Right, so if this mother of mine isn’t going to introduce us guess I’ll have to do it myself,” Debbie extended her hand to Allie, “hi, I’m Debbie, you must be Allie, I hope my mums been looking after you better than she has me, leaving me to order my own pizza, totally out of order.” Allie giggled and shook Debbie’s hand. Allie began to feel a little more relaxed, but her nerves were evident to Debbie.

“You know you should make yourself at home Allie, god if your this nervous around me I hate to know how you’re going to be living with Booms,”

“Oh Boomers great, she’s so funny, I think I’ll be fine.”

“I love Booms, but she can go a little over the top sometimes, mum says her and Frankie are a bad influence.”

“Yer, I can see why she says that about Frankie,”

“If you think Boomer and Franky are bad sober wait till you see them after a few too many, how many times has Frankie hit on you when she’s under the influence now mum?”

“Debbie! I don’t think Allie needs to know that.” She blushes and throws her head back.

Allie doesn’t like the sound of Frankie hitting on Bea, not one bit, and she starts to feel a little jealous just thinking about it.

“So Allie, it seems that my mum has forgotten her manners, and she says teenagers have no manners, I’ll show you where the spare room is, follow me.”

Allie hesitates slightly looking over at Bea, who just smiles at her, she can’t help but wonder if this was planned on Bea’s part. After a few seconds she gets up and follows Debbie up stairs. Debbie stops outside the spare room,

“So here we are,” opening the door allowing Allie to enter the room first, she notices that once again Allie is looking a little uncomfortable.

“It’s ok ya know.”

“Errr, what?” Allie has no idea where this is going and she’s not sure that she really wants to know, but she’s here now.

“You like her don’t you?”

“Like w…who?”

“I’m not blind, I see the way you look at my mum” Allie just hangs her head wishing she could just disappear.

“I also saw the way she looks at you, I don’t remember seeing her look at anyone the way she looks at you……listen I don’t know if she’s told you anything about that poor excuse for a father I have, but give her time.” Allie looks up a little at Debbie not knowing how to respond.

“Maxi sees it to ya know, she told me, don’t look so worried, It’s strange, but it doesn’t bother me if that’s what’s worrying you. She deserves to be happy, I haven’t seen her looking so happy since forever, and since I know the only place she has been the last couple of days is with you I can only assume that it’s you that’s having that effect on her.”

Allie gives Debbie a small smile,

“I thought you would hate me.”

“Hate you? Why would I hate you?”

“How I’ve been living, most people don’t want me around them, they look at me like I’m the dirtiest thing they’ve ever seen,” Allie says honestly.

“Hey, I would never look at you like that, or treat you like that, my mum raised me to respect other people and not to judge them for the choices they have made good or bad.”

“You really mean that?” Allie asks cautiously.

“Yes, I really mean that.”

Debbie hears a knock on the front door.

“Hey come on pizzas here, and I really need to eat”

Allie follows Debbie back to the lounge and sits down.

“I’m not getting plates you know, so both of you tuck in, who wants a drink?”

“Mum, we both do, beer?” Debbie looks at Allie with raised eyebrows.

“Yer, that would be good”

“Three beers coming up, but don’t think your having more than one Deb”

\------------------------------

Allie started to feel more relaxed as the evening wore on, even daring to sit a little closer to Bea than she thought she would dare. They had the tv on but none of them were paying it much attention to it preferring to chat, Debbie enjoyed telling Allie about some of things Boomer got up to, especially on a night out. Allie couldn’t help but laugh, Debbie had noticed that every time Allie laughed her mum would look at her, “yer, she likes her,” she thought to herself wondering if she even realised it herself.

“I’m off to bed, see you both in the morning, and Allie if you need any help moving into Boomers I’ll help”

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind”

“Night Deb, I love you”

“To the moon and back, night mum, night Allie” with that Debbie headed off to bed.

“You look tired Allie”

“I am a little”

“maybe we should go to bed, you need a good nights sleep ready to face Boomer tomorrow, trust me it’s never a good idea to face Boomer if you’re tired and cranky”

Bea reached for the tv remote and turned it off, standing up she help out her hand to Allie who accepted it and Bea gently pulled her up from the sofa.

“Did Debbie show you were the bathroom is?”

“No”

“Come on, I’ll show you”  
Allie followed Bea upstairs trying hard not to stare at her arse but she couldn’t help herself.  
She showed her were everything was, got her a spare toothbrush and a fresh towel.

“Goodnight Allie, if you need anything my rooms right across the hall” she pointed to the door.

“Ok, goodnight Bea.”

Bea went into her bedroom leaving Allie to get ready for bed. Allie sat on the bed thinking, did Bea really like her? She couldn’t stop thinking about what Debbie had said. She yawned, getting up and getting into bed, she missed having Bea next to her. She knew she would have to get used to that, she was going to be alone once she moved into Boomers. Turning off the lamp she slid under the covers sleep claiming her almost instantly.

Bea was finding it hard to sleep, she lay in bed her hands behind her head, she couldn’t get Allie off her mind, she was beginning to wonder if it was the right thing to let Allie move in with Boomer, Debbie was leaving next weekend for uni, the house was going to feel so empty. She knew she would still see Allie, but it wouldn’t be the same. She sat up, deciding to get out of bed and headed downstairs to get a bottle of water. On her way back to bed she could hear Allie mumbling, she stopped outside the door listening, she tapped on the door, “Allie,” she paused, still hearing the sounds from the other side of the door. She opened the door a little, “Allie, are you alright?” Getting no response she entered the room noticing that Allie was tossing and turning, Bea knew she was dreaming and by the looks of it it wasn’t a good dream. She approached the bed slowly not wanting to scare Allie, she bent over her, placing her hand on her shoulder, “Allie……..Allie.” Allie shot up, tears streaming down her face.

“Bea, is that you?”

“Yes, you were dreaming, are you ok?”

“I am now.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“Not really, but will you stay with me for a bit?”

“Of course I will, anything you need, I’m right here”

She lay down on the bed with her, Allie couldn’t help herself and moved closer to Bea, resting her arm over her stomach and her head on her shoulder, Bea moved her arm and pulled Allie in a little closer.

“It’s ok, you’re safe here”

“I know”

They lay there for a while, neither of them saying anything until they both drifted off to sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on chapter 9, not sure I'll get it posted today but I will try.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping to post this chapter yesterday but I wasn't happy with it, so after waking up at stupid o'clock and re reading it I re wrote half of it, although I'm still not sure I'm happy with it.

Debbie was the the first to wake the next morning, walking down the hall she noticed that the door to the spare room was slightly open, she didn’t want to be nosey but curiosity got the better of her, she peered through the gap in the door seeing her mum and Allie cuddled up together their arms wrapped tightly around each other, she smiled, “that’s cute,” she thought to herself. Deciding to head to the kitchen to make a start on breakfast. She knew that Allie had a busy day in front of her and wanted to make sure that she had at least one decent meal, and it didn’t hurt that she was starving anyway.

Bea woke up, slowly opening her eyes, she had forgotten where she was until she saw Allie lying next to her, she smiled to herself, it felt so good waking up with Allie in her arms, then it hit her, this would be the last morning she would wake up with Allie, she was struggling with what she feeling, it was confusing the hell out of her, “I’m not gay!” She said under her breath. She needed to talk to someone, her first thoughts went to Franky, “hell no,” she thought to herself she’d never hear the end of it. Maxi, I can talk to Maxi. She felt Allie stirring beside her, looking at a sleepy looking Allie she smiled, “good morning” she rasped.

“Mmm, good morning, yourself.”

“Feeling better this morning?”

“Loads, thank you for staying with me, but you didn’t have to stay all night,” she giggled.

“I fell asleep, do I make you feel uncomfortable?”

“You make me feel a lot of things, uncomfortable is not one of them.”

“Oh yer, like what?”

She couldn’t tell her the truth, she knew that she was falling for Bea, she couldn’t tell her that, she hadn’t even told Bea she was gay, the subject had never come up so why would she tell her?

“Doesn’t matter,” Allie mumbled.

“We should get up, we have a lot to do.”

“Yer, I know, moving day,” she didn’t want to get up, she had no idea when she would see Bea again after today, and the thought of not seeing her scared her more than anything.

Bea wriggled free from Allie’s embrace and got up.

“I’ll make a start on breakfast,” with that she left the room, a sudden feeling of sadness washing over her.

Walking into the kitchen she was more than surprised to see Debbie already cooking breakfast.

“How long have you been up baby?”

“Long enough to make coffee and start breakfast”

“What am I going to do without you?”

“I’m sure you’ll manage, and you’ve got Allie.”

“What?”

“What!” She shrugged, “you just seem happier with her around that’s all I mean.”

“Oh!”

“Speaking of Allie is she even up yet?”

“I have no idea.” Debbie just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, “yer mum, you know she’s up,” she thought to herself, she thought about telling her she’d seen them together and then thought better of it, not wanting to make Bea any more uncomfortable than she she already seemed.

Allie over heard their conversation, waiting a minute before she entered the kitchen in the hope that neither of them would guess that she heard them.

“Good morning ladies” Allie beamed.

“Morning Allie, did you sleep well”

“Yes thanks.”

“Take a seat, breakfast is almost ready”

After breakfast they all got ready for the day ahead. Bea decided that she would head over to the office and pick Allie’s things up, hoping that Allie wouldn’t mind her leaving her alone with Debbie.  
It wouldn’t take her more than half an hour to get there and back, and she needed some time to herself, she was going to miss Allie and she just needed some time alone to clear her head. Walking into her office she stood there looking at four bags just sitting there. She felt miserable, how could Allie’s life be worth so little, she struggled knowing that this was all Allie owned in the world. She took the bags out to her car. Locked the office up and headed home.

Two hours later they were sat with Boomer in her lounge laughing and joking.

“I reckon we should go out tonight to celebrate,” Boomer said eagerly

“Booms, Allie might not feel like it.”

“No, no I think it’s a great idea”

“That’s settled then, I’m gonna call the girls and arrange it.”

Bea just shook her head,

“She gets over exited when a night out is on the cards”.

“I better make a move Allie or Debs will think I’ve forgotten about her,”

“Will I see you later?”

“Course, I wouldn’t miss it for the world, tell Booms to give me a call and let me know what time yer?”

Allie walked Bea to the door, she hadn’t left yet and she was missing her already, she wanted to pull her back and hold onto her, ask her not to leave, but she knew she couldn’t, that would have been a sure way to have her running for the hills never to be seen again.

Bea got in the car, she didn’t want to leave Allie but she had to, pulling her phone from her pocket she called Maxine.

“Bea, Allie all settled?”

“Um, yes I think so”

“What’s up hun?”

“Are you busy at the moment?”

“No love, what’s on your mind?”

“Can I come over? I need to talk to some one”

“Of course hun, come round I’m not busy.”

“Thanks Maxi, see you soon.”

On the drive over to Maxine’s Bea had no idea what she was going to say. She couldn’t stop thinking about waking up with Allie that morning, she couldn’t make sense of anything she was feeling, she’s straight that’s what she told herself, this made no sense, she’d never looked at another woman like she did Allie her whole life, but thinking about it she’d never been with anyone but Harry, she’d never had a chance to think of herself as anything but straight, she was so cought up in her thoughts that she was surprised when she found herself sitting out side Maxine’s. she dragged herself out of the car and up to Maxi’s front door, she was just about to knock when the door swung open.

“Bea hun, it’s so good to see you, please come in!”

“It’s good to see you to Maxi”

They walked through to the lounge, Bea took a seat on one of the sofas, Maxine went to the kitchen, returning with two mugs of coffee, handing one to Bea before seating herself on the sofa opposite her.

“So…what’s on your mind?”

“Just stuff”

“Stuff? You mean the Allie kind of stuff?”

“What? H…how do you know?”

“Oh Bea hun I saw the way she looked at you, and I saw the way you looked at her, in all the years we’ve known each other I’ve never seen you look at anyone like that.”

“I’m so bloody confused Maxi,” Bea admitted.

“That’s only to be expected love, tell me how does she make you feel?”

“Shit Maxi, she makes my head spin, it’s unbelievable, my stomach feels like there’s a whole swarm of butterflies in there, when she touches me it’s like a jolt of electricity. I miss her already Maxi. Last night she had a bad dream and I lay on the bed with her, I fell asleep, when I woke up this morning and it just felt so right waking up next to her, I wanted to stay in her arms forever.”

“Does it bother you that you’re having feelings for another woman?”

“No, not at all, I feel so safe when we’re together”

“Bea, you like her, there is absolutely nothing wrong with how your feeling, I think you need to take a chance, talk to her, there is nothing wrong with you, you deserve to be loved, maybe Allie is the person you are meant to be with. Talk to her, tell her how you feel.”

“Thanks Maxi, I have no idea what I’d do without you!”

“You’re more than welcome hun, I’ll always be here for you.”

“Has Boomer called you yet?”

“About going for drinks later? Yes, and I can’t wait, you are going aren’t you?”

“Course I am, I wouldn’t miss it. So I guess I’ll see you later”

“You will hun.”

\------------------------------

Bea was the first to arrive at the bar, she felt slightly uncomfortable being there alone and she hoped the others would be arriving soon, she took a seat at the bar and ordered herself a beer. Not long after Franky arrived with Bridget.

“Jesus Bea, your eager”

“I thought Booms would have been here already, not like her not to be early when there’s alcohol involved,” she laughed.

“Yer, that true, maybe blondie is keeping her busy!”

“So what are you both drinking?”

“I’ll have a beer and you know Gidge will want a white wine,” getting the bar tenders attention Bea ordered the drinks while Franky and Bridget found a table.

  
Bea spotted them further back in bar and made her way over to them, passing them their drinks before taking a seat.

“So, everything alright with you?”

“Why wouldn’t they be Franky,” Bea replied knowing that she was going to have to put up with Franky’s teasing until the others finally showed up.

“Oh, I don’t know, thought you might be missing blondie already.”

“Piss off Franky, there’s nothing to miss,” she said unconvincingly.

“What ever you say Red.”

Bea knew too well that Franky could read her like a book, and she wouldn’t stop until she got it out of her.

“Franky leave Bea alone will you,” Bridget said sensing Bea’s discomfort.

“Oh come on Gidge, I’m only teasing.”

Bea was relieved when she spotted Liz, Maxine and Doreen enter the bar, she waved over to them, Liz went the bar while Maxine and Doreen headed over to them.

“No Boomer yet?” Maxine said looking a little shocked.

“Na not yet, bet she’s getting pissed off having to wait on blondie trying to make herself look hot for Bea,” Franky sniggered.

Bea picked up her beer and almost downed the remainder of the bottle, looking at Maxine to help her out.

“Oh come on Franky, how do you know she’s not trying to make herself look hot for you? Allie doesn’t know you have a girlfriend.” Maxine teased.

“Yer, whatever Maxi,” Franky rolled her eyes.

Liz returned from the bar with a tray of drinks.

“Here we go, drinks all round”

They heard Boomer enter the bar before they spotted her.

“Fuck sake blondie, were wasting good drinking time, why’d ya have to take so long getting ready?”

Boomer shot up to the bar, ordering two beers and a round of shots, Allie trailing behind her.

Bea turned to look in their direction, her jaw almost hitting the ground when she saw Allie dressed in a figure hugging black dress that stopped just before her knees and black heels.

  
“Earth to Bea, oi Bea…..Bea,” suddenly snapping out of it turning to face Franky who was wearing an all knowing grin on her face.

“Stop drooling Bea, its never a good look,”

“I wasn’t drooling Franky,” she snapped.

“Yer, you were, but who could blame ya, shit, blondie looks hot, don’t reckon she made that much of an effort if she wasn’t trying to impress a certain person, do you?”

Boomer and Allie arrived at the table not long after.

“Shots,” Boomer announced, placing the tray on the table.

“Boomer it’s too early for shots,” Liz complained.

“Na, it’s never too early for shots,” passing one to everyone before raising her glass with a loud “cheers”. They all downed them, every one pulling a face except boomer.

“Hey blondie, ya didn’t have to go to all that trouble for me ya know, maybe I forgot to mention, I’m already spoken for,” Franky chucked as she wrapped her arm loving round Bridget.

“Yer, and I thought I already told you Franky, I have have standards.”

“She got you there babe,” Bridget giggled before introducing herself to Allie.

Most of the evening passed in a blur for Bea, she was trying not to look at Allie but she couldn’t help it and it didn’t go un noticed by either Franky or Maxine.

Bea excused herself and headed towards the bathroom.

“What’s up her arse? I know Bea’s quiet but fuck, she’s hardly said a word all night,” Boomer said a little annoyed.

“Booms, hun, she’s got things on her mind, you know Debbie leaves for uni next weekend,”

“Oh shit Maxi, I forgot all about that, makes sense now.”

Bea had been gone five minutes already when Maxine whispered to Allie

“Maybe you should go see if Bea’s ok in there.”

Allie looked a little shyly at Maxine.

“Wouldn’t it be better if you went?” She whispered back.

“No hun, I think Bea would much rather see you than any of us,” she said with a knowing smile.

Allie nodded her head and excused herself from the table heading in the same direction Bea had taken off in, entering the bathroom she found Bea hands clenching the counter top, head down shaking her head. Allie hated seeing her like this, the fact that she didn’t know what was wrong making the whole situation worse.

“Bea!”

No response.

“Bea!” She said again inching towards her slowly not wanting to scare her.

Still no response.

Allie kept walking towards her slowly until she was stood behind her, all she wanted to do was to wrap her arms around her but how could she? She didn’t want to freak her out. Instead she placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered her name in her ear. Bea raised her head and turned to look at Allie.

“Are you ok? You’ve been in here a while, Maxine is getting worried about you.”

“Oh, only Maxine worrying about me?” She said with a sad tone in her voice.

“No, course not, I was worried about you, what are you doing in here?”

“Just got a lot on my mind,”

“Worried about Deb leaving next weekend?” Her voice full of concern.

“Yes, amongst other things, Allie, I really need to talk to you,”

“I’m listening,”

“No, not here, will you come round to mine tomorrow?”

“Whatever you want, what time?”

“Well Debs is going out with her friends after lunch, is 2pm alright with you?”

“Sounds perfect, now can we get out of here before everyone starts talking about us?”she laughed.

“They already are,” Bea thought to herself. They went back to the table to the others, Maxine looked at Allie and gave her a wink, Allie returned a little smile.

Later as their night was coming to an end they were all waiting outside for taxi’s, Franky and Bridget leaving first, followed by Liz and Doreen as they lived close to one another. Bea’s taxi arrived,

“See you tomorrow Allie, goodnight”

“Goodnight Bea, 2pm I’ll be there.”

Maxine was sharing a taxi with Boomer and Allie so Allie didn’t have to deal with a very drunk Boomer by herself.

  
“She likes you you do know that don’t don’t ya hun?” Maxine said turning to look at Allie.

“What?”

“Bea, she likes you, you must have noticed, it’s as plain as the nose on your face.”

They were both silent , then Maxine spoke again.

“I’m guessing she hasn’t told you anything about her ex husband and it’s not my place to say, but know this, I’ve never seen her look at anyone the way she looks at you, she’s scared, not of you, but what she’s feeling, I don’t think I need to ask what you’re feeling for her, am I right?”

“Oh god Maxi, I’ve only known her a few days and already it feels like I can’t go another second without seeing her, I’ve never felt like this about anyone before. I’ve had a couple of girlfriends but it never felt like this, and I’m scared to, scared that I’ll freak her out and never see her again.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen, you have to talk to her though,”

“She wants to talk to me, that’s why she asked me to go over tomorrow, I don’t know what to think, I’m so nervous, I want to tell her everything but I’m scared she will push me away, I couldn’t deal with that.”

“The only real advice I can give you with Bea is to take your time, talk to her, tell her everything you want to say, she’s never been one to judge, you know that already. It might be difficult, it’ll be just as difficult for her to open up to you, if not more so. But I’m pretty certain that everything will work out between you.”

Their taxi arrived, it took both of them to get Boomer into the taxi, arriving at Boomers Maxine helped Allie get her indoors before heading home. Allie was exhausted, but she was happy she was going to see Bea tomorrow. She went to bed, she couldn’t sleep, Bea was constantly on her mind, and she thought about what Maxine had said to her. She was too scared to think that maybe there was chance that she could be with Bea. Maxine was right though, she had to tell her everything, if Bea pushed her away it would hurt, but she had to be honest, she couldn’t keep it all bottled up. She finally fell asleep a couple of hours later.

Bea wasn’t doing any better, she was petrified, she felt safe with Allie, and she hated the fact that she wasn’t there with her right now. She missed her, that scared her, how could she miss someone this much after only spending a few days with them? And then there were the things Franky and Debbie had said, Debbie’s comments may have seemed innocent enough, and she wasn’t sure if she looking at it all wrong, but she couldn’t help but wonder if what she feeling really was as obvious as Maxine said it was. “Im just going to have to take the chance” she said to herself, she needed to know if this was just one sided, she hoped it wasn’t but then that scared her as well, what if Allie felt the same? She totally exhausted herself going over and over everything in her head, eventually she fell asleep, with nothing but blue eyes and blond hair on her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on chapter 10, I will try to get it posted today.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does Bea actually have the nerve to tell Allie about her past?

Allie was awoken by a loud crashing sound, jumping up and rubbing her eyes she suddenly remembered where she was, a wave of disappointment washed over her with the realisation that she wasn’t with Bea. God she missed her, she couldn’t believe how much she missed her. Dragging herself out of bed she went to investigate what the noise was. Seeing Boomer sitting at the kitchen table her head resting on her arms on the table.

“Everything alright Boomer?”

Boomer lifted her head slightly, groaned and put her head back down.

“Hangover that bad?” Allie giggled

“Don’t ask!” Was all Boomer could say

“Want some coffee, I’m going to make some.”

“Mmm, sounds good.”

Allie put the coffee on and decided that she wasn’t that hungry, opting to have toast for breakfast.  
After she ate and washed what she had used she headed back to her room. She was a bag of nerves, she was seeing Bea later and didn’t want to look a mess, she took her time deciding what to wear eventually opting for light blue skinny jeans and a white tank top. After showering and getting dressed she applied minimal make up, picking up the phone that Bea had given her she went in search of Boomer. Finding her still sitting at the kitchen table.

“Booms, maybe you should go back to bed,”

“Yer, I guess, next time don’t let me drink so much right.”

Allie giggled, “as if you would take any notice of me Booms.”

Boomer went back to bed after taking some pain killers for her headache and Allie ended up in the lounge watching tv hoping that the time would pass quickly, she had no idea what Bea wanted to talk to her about, and that worried her more than anything.

\------------------------------

Bea hadn’t slept all that well, she kept waking up, each time she woke up she had a feeling of disappointment knowing that Allie wasn’t there next to her. She knew she had to talk to Allie, everything she needed to say to her was playing on her mind, she wasn’t even sure if she could manage to tell her. She never found it easy to talk to anyone except Maxine and Franky, and sometimes she even found it hard to talk to Franky even though Franky had been there through most of the Harry’s abuse. She had to do it, she just hoped that Allie would hear her out before making a run for it. That thought scared her more, what if Allie walked away? What if Allie didn’t feel the same, yes Maxine was convinced that she did, but that wasn’t much consolation. She had to tell her everything, about Harry, she hated talking about that part of her life, even after all the work she’d done in therapy she still found that part of her life difficult to talk about with other people, but she knew that she had to be honest, if she wasn’t honest with Allie then how could she understand why she reacted to things the way she did! She got up, had a shower and decided that she would just throw on her usual blue jeans and white t shirt, they were only hanging around the house after all.  
She made her way downstairs to put on some coffee and make Debbie her breakfast, she really didn’t feel like eating herself, her stomach was in knots and she felt sick, just the thought of telling Allie even half of what she had to say was making her feel ill.

“Morning mum, I’m starving,”

“Now how did I know you were going to say that?”

Debbie watched her mum, she could sense that something was off, debating with herself if she should bring it up or just leave it. Seeing her mum so tense made her mind up for her,

“Mum, what’s bothering you?”

“Err, nothing for you to worry about.”

“Mum, you look tense, something is clearly bothering you, so sit down and tell me.”

Bea looked at Debbie, knowing that Debbie wouldn’t let it go, how could she tell her own daughter how she was feeling? How would she react, Debbie’s reaction could blow any chance she could have of ever telling Allie how she felt. She couldn’t keep up the pretence so she sat down across the table from Debbie.

“I…I….I don’t know where to start!”

“The beginning is usually the best place mum,” Debbie giggled.

Bea just sat there looking at Debbie sheepishly.

“Ok mum, so I’m thinking that this is something to do with Allie,”

Bea didn’t know how to answer her.

“Mum, its obvious, you’d have to be blind not to see the way you look at each other. I’m not going to sit here and say that it doesn’t seem a little strange, but you seem so much happier when she’s around. I like Allie, honestly I do, and I’m guessing I don’t know everything that she’s been through. Do you even know everything she’s been through? Have you told her anything about dad? I’m only here for one more week, I’m leaving next Saturday. Honestly I’d be much happier if I knew you were going to be ok, and if having Allie around is what makes you happy then I’m happy. You need to talk to her mum.”

Bea didn’t know what to say, she could hardly look at Debbie.

“Mum!”

“Ok, Deb, yer….your right, I do like her, I just have to be honest with her, I have to tell her everything about your dad and that scares the shit out of me.”

“Mum, I’m pretty sure that nothing will change the way she is around you, are you seeing her today?”

“Yer, she’s coming round after lunch.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention, I’m going out before lunch, we decided to spend the day at the beach so I’m going out after breakfast, you don’t mind do you?”

“No, why would I? Just have fun with your friends and stay safe.”

“I will mum, I love you,”

“To the moon and back Deb.”

\------------------------------

Allie couldn’t sit still, she couldn’t concentrate on whatever she was trying to watch. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard her phone beep.

**Hey Allie, Debs gone to the beach with her friends, do you want to come over earlier?**

She just stared at the message for a few seconds, unsure if she should go earlier, what if Bea wanted to get her out of her life? What did she want to talk about? Shaking her head she typed out a quick reply.

**Give me 30 minutes and I’ll be there.**

She didn’t know what she was letting herself in for, but she knew she had to find out, “it’s now or never,” she thought to herself putting her shoes on and grabbing her jacket.

\------------------------------

Reaching Bea’s front door Allie hesitated before knocking, taking a deep breath she knocked lightly on the door. No answer. She knocked again a little harder, still no answer. Allie was both worried and frustrated, she knew Bea was in, her car was parked on the drive. Uncertain if she was being ignored or if Bea really hadn’t heard her knock, she knocked one last time deciding that if she got no answer this time she would just leave, it would hurt but there would be no point standing there all day, still no answer. She could feel tears threatening to fall, trying to blink them away, she turned around and started to walk away, really all she wanted to do was run and never look back, why would Bea do this to her? Why ask her to come over then just ignore her? She couldn’t make any sense of this, she stopped and turned to look at the house just one last time, feeling like her heart was being crushed. She was just about to walk away as the door flew open and a panicked looking Bea stepped outside.

“Ally, I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you, I was out in the garden, please don’t leave.”

“I thought you were ignoring me.”

“No, no Allie I couldn’t, I wouldn’t ignore you, please….I don’t want you to go,” she pleaded.

“You sure?”

“Totally, please come in, if I don’t talk to you now, I probably never will, and….well I need to do this.”

Allie nodded and turned back towards the house following Bea inside. She suddenly felt even more nervous than she had before, she had never felt nervous around Bea, but right now, not knowing what Bea wanted to talk about she felt like she was going to throw up.

“Can I get you a drink? I’ve got coffee, water, juice, beer and I think there are a couple of cans of Coke in the fridge if Debbie hasn’t already drunk them,”

“I’m not fussy, I’ll have whatever your having.”

“Make yourself at home, I won’t be a second,” she said walking back into the kitchen.

She had intended to get two bottles of water from the fridge, but spotting the bottles of beer and feeling desperately in need of something to soothe her badly fraying nerves, she grabbed a bottle a downed it in one. She grabbed two more bottles and went back to the lounge where Allie was patiently waiting for her, she handed one of the bottles to Allie before sitting next to her. Allie noticing that she was keeping more distance between them than she usually did when they had been sitting together.

“I know it’s probably a bit early,” Bea said raising her bottle to her lips and taking a drink.

“Yer, it kinda is, but if it helps you say whatever it is you want to say to me then I guess it doesn’t matter.”

They sat there in silence, it felt like hours to both of them but it was really only a couple of minutes.

“Allie, do you remember when I told you that Debbie’s dad was long gone?”

Allie suddenly felt a wave of panic course through her entire body, was Bea going to tell her that she was back together with him, she looked at Bea, feeling the tears in her eyes welling up in her eyes.

“Yer,” she croaked out.

“Can you promise me one thing, when I start to tell you what I need to say you won’t interrupt? It’s going to be hard enough to get this out as it is.”

Allie just nodded and looked away from Bea, it was just too hard to look at her no matter how much she wanted to.

“Well, like I said he’s long gone, he’s in prison, has been for the last two years. I met him when I was 17, all my friends had boyfriends, but really I wasn’t interested, then I met Harry and he was really sweet, he made me laugh and I guess I liked the attention. I’d been going out with him for about a month when he invited me over to his place for a meal, I agreed. After we ate he started drinking, he got pretty drunk, when I said I needed to get home he wouldn’t let me go, he dragged me to his bedroom and….well…he forced me, ……. He raped me Allie.”

Just trying to get those words out felt like her world was falling apart again, and she started crying. Allie couldn’t stand to see Bea crying, she moved closer to her and took hold of her hand giving it a light squeeze trying to give her a little reassurance.

“A month later I found out I was pregnant with Debbie, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I told Harry and he said we should get married, he even went with me to tell my parents, they were angry until Harry said we were getting married, his parents really didn’t like the idea and wanted me to have an abortion, but Harry went mad and told them it was his baby and he was going to stand by me. We were married the next month. He was really good to me until Deb was about six months old. He got a promotion at work and was working longer hours, then he decided that we were moving so he bought a house, saying that it was better for Debbie because she needed a garden. He even encouraged me to go to college to learn hairdressing as I’d told him it was something I was interested in. He started staying out more, going to the pub with his mates and coming home drunk, it started with a few slaps here and there then a punch or two. He said we needed more money, said he didn’t see why he should support me, after college I got a job working at the salon with Maxine. It really turned to shit when I started working, he was never happy with anything I did, the house wasn’t clean enough, his dinner wasn’t on the table when he came home, never knowing when he was going to be home didn’t really help. A few slaps and punches soon turned into all out beatings. I had plenty of hospital visits, cracked or broken ribs, a broken wrist or a broken arm. Luckily Debbie never saw what he did to me, but I know she heard it. I couldn’t stand to be near him, I tried hard to stay out of his way, not that I could do it all the time. When he wanted sex it didn’t matter what I wanted, he just took what he wanted, I was his wife and it was his right that’s what he always said.”

Allie was struggling to hold the tears back hearing all this, she couldn’t believe that Bea had gone through all that and she was still here, still fighting and trying to help other people.

“The last beating was three years ago, Debbie was out with Franky, Harry came home drunk from the pub, as soon as he walked in he demanded another beer, he said I didn’t get it fast enough and he punched me in the face. I had been keeping his dinner warm, he demanded his dinner so I took it straight to him, that wasn’t good enough, it wasn’t hot enough, I don’t remember much more about that night. All I remember is waking up in hospital a few days later, I had a punctured lung, broken ribs, a fractured jaw and a broken arm, I found out later that Franky and Debbie found me unconscious on the floor when Franky brought her home. I couldn’t take anymore, Debbie begged me to tell the police, and I knew I had to, next time I probably wouldn’t wake up. He was arrested and charged with attempted murder, he got 15 years. I divorced him, Debbie hates him, I sold the house and we moved here. I was getting really restless working at the salon, Maxine encouraged me to find something else I wanted to do, and I already told you how that turned out.”

Allie couldn’t take anymore, she burst into tears and wrapped her arms round Bea so tightly, they sat there and cried together until they couldn’t cry any more.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how hard that must have been for you to go through, but you’re still here, you’re stronger, he didn’t win you did, you did and he got what he deserved. No actually he didn’t because even though he got sent to prison he’s still alive!”

Bea looked at Allie, and threw her arms round her.

“I’m sorry, I had to tell you, as hard as it was for me to tell you, it must have been hard for you to hear.”

“It was, but I’m glad you felt able to trust me enough to tell me, now can we please have another beer? I think we both need one, and since we’re sharing, I think I should tell you how I ended up on the streets.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, Bea, I want to, I need to.”

Bea got up from the sofa, picking up the empty bottles and going to the kitchen, returning a few seconds later with another two bottles, she handed one to Allie and sat down, this time not putting any distance between her and Allie, both of them took a drink from their bottles before putting them down on the coffee table. Bea turned to Allie and took both of her hands in hers, looking her straight in the eye.

“You really don’t have to tell me anything.”

“No, I really do! So….when I was 16 I realised I was gay, a year later I decided to tell my parents, I was so sick of the never ending questions about why I didn’t have a boyfriend when all of my friends had one. My dad freaked and threw me out of the house, said they never wanted me, I was a mistake in the first place and that he never wanted to see me again. My grandma was still alive, she let me stay with her, she was so supportive, encouraged me to stay at school and graduate. When I finished school I got a job in a bar, I didn’t earn much but every little helped, my parents knew that my grandma had taken me in and they never came near her house, she said she didn’t care if they could treat me like they had then she never wanted to see either of them again. Three years later she died, my parents threw me out of her house and sold it. I had nothing, I lost my job. I was on my own on the streets, I made friends with some of the other girls that were on the streets, they always seemed to have money, so one day I asked them how and they told me. It freaked me out a little, but it sounded like easy money. The first time I did it I was so ashamed of myself, that wasn’t who I was, I cried for days. One of girls gave me something one night, she said it would help me forget what I was doing, it did, and I carried on sleeping with men for money, but the drugs took over, the more I used them the more I wanted. I got beaten up a few times, the drugs took the pain away. I just carried on living that life, I was out of control, then Kaz found me, took me in and cleaned me up. All I’ve ever wanted was to feel loved, I met someone, and honestly I thought I loved her and that she loved me. When I disappeared from Kaz’s it was because we had gone out, a guy who used to be a regular saw me, he followed us, then started asking if it was two for the price of one. She freaked out, asking me what he was talking about, I hadn’t told her, I tried to explain, she didn’t want to listen, said she hated me, never wanted to see me again and that she’d never loved me, it was just a bit of fun. I went back to Kaz’s she wasn’t home, I felt dirty, I couldn’t stand it, I just had to get out of there, so I ran back to the only thing I knew. Some guy roughed me up a couple of days before you found me, and…..well you found me you know the rest.”

They were both crying again, where all the tears were coming from neither of them knew, they just held onto each other until the tears eventually subsided. Neither of them wanted to let go of the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They really will tell each other how they feel, this chapter was getting a little too long, I had to stop at some point.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a struggle but they both admit how they feel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this chapter early so thought I would post it tonight instead of waiting until tomorrow.

After what felt like hours they finally let go of each other.

“Think that was a bit more intense than I expected,” Allie sniffled

“What did you think I was going to tell you?”

“I had no idea, but when you mentioned your ex I thought you were going to say you were getting back together, shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”

“Allie, I need to tell you something else,”

“Please say it’s not anything bad, I don’t think I can take it,”

Bea, looked at Allie, a slightly worried expression on her face.

“Na, forget it, it doesn’t matter!”

Bea stood up and walked into the kitchen leaving Allie totally confused, “if she could tell me all that what’s so bad that she can’t tell me?” She thought to herself. She got up and followed Bea into the kitchen, finding her staring out of the window.

“Bea, are you ok?”

“Mmm, yes why wouldn’t I be?”

“If you want me to leave I will, if you don’t want me around I’ll just go and I won’t bother you any more,”

Bea turned around to face Allie,

“Allie no, that’s not what I want, I just don’t know how to say what I want to say, I’ve…I’ve never felt like this before!”

Allie took a step towards her.

“Never felt like what before?”

Bea shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her feet.

“Are you trying to say what I think you’re trying to say?”

She shrugged again,

“Depends what you think I’m trying to say doesn’t it?”

“You know, I think I kinda like the shy Bea Smith,”

“Piss off, I’m not shy,”

“You so are,”

“Well….if I am it’s your fault!”

“Is that so, and why do I make you shy?”

Bea looked up a little, not really enough so Allie could really tell she’d even moved.

“Funny how you’ve never been shy around me before now,”

  
Allie took another couple of steps towards Bea.

“Would it help if I told you something first?”

“Depends what you want to tell me,”

“Bea can we just sit down again?”

“I guess, makes more sense than standing here.”

Allie reached out and took Bea by the hand leading her back to the lounge. Sitting down on the sofa just as close as they had been before. Bea still couldn’t look at Allie, her mind was racing at 100 miles an hour, she wanted to tell Allie what she was feeling, she just couldn’t get the words out.

“So, I’m thinking that we got the really hard stuff out of the way, so I’m just going to tell you, if you want me to go after I’ve told you what I need to say then I’ll just go and you’ll never have to see me again….. Bea, I really would prefer it if you’d look at me, but I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to, Jesus listen to me rambling on, so I’ll just have to spit it out….Bea, I… well I really like you, I’ve never felt like this before, when I’m with you I feel safe, it’s like all the bad stuff just fades away when I’m with you.”

They sat in silence, Allie couldn’t take the silence any longer. She stood up, tears welling up in her eyes again.

“I shouldn’t have said that, you probably hate me right now, so I’ll just go, I…I…I’m sorry.”

She turned away and almost ran for the door not realising that Bea had jumped up and was right behind her, she almost made it to the door when she felt Bea’s arms wrap around her waist stopping her in her tracks.

“Allie….. I don’t want you to go….. I… I really like you too, and it scares me, I’ve never felt like this before, ever. I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know how things are supposed to go, I’ve only ever been with Harry and look how that turned out! I’m scared Allie.”

Allie managed to turn around in Bea’s arms, now they were face to face, looking each other in the eye. Allie was the first to say something.

“Was that really that hard?”

“Yes.” Bea breathed.

“Bea, all I want is to be with you, there’s no pressure, I just want to be with you, no one has ever treated me like you do, right from that first night when you found me, you didn’t treat me like I was nothing, all my life people have treated me like I was nothing, but you didn’t.”

“I never will, you’re a good person Allie, I knew that as soon as I saw you, but I didn’t know why I felt like that.”

Bea let go of Allie and almost dragged her back to the sofa, they sat together just talking, laughing about Boomer and her hangover.

“I like this, I mean just sitting here with you. Allie, will you stay for dinner?”

“Do you want me to?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want you to.”

“What about Debbie?”

“Deb, are you joking, she called me out this morning about how I was feeling.”

“Seriously!”

“Hu hu, she told me I liked you, she said that you liked me, and that it didn’t bother her as long as I was happy.”

“Are you happy?”

“When I’m with you I am.”

“Actually, you know what, I think I better make a start on dinner, so are you staying?”

“Guess I am.”

Allie followed Bea into the kitchen.

“Do you want any help?”

“Na, but you can stay here and talk to me.”

\------------------------------

“Mum, I’m home, hope dinners nearly ready cos I’m starving.”

“What a surprise!” Bea rolled her eyes.

“Did Allie come over? Did you tell her? Mum, you better have cos if I have to tell her I will.”

Debbie walked into the kitchen not knowing that Allie was there until she saw her sat at the kitchen table.

“Allie! Shit, please tell me she told you and I haven’t just put my foot in it.”

“Yes she did, and no you haven’t.”

“So…….does this mean when I leave next week I can stop worrying about her being on her own?”

“Deb, you know I am stood right here.”

“Well doh, I can see you, but there’s no point in asking you anything, it takes forever to drag anything out of you and you know it, it’s just easier to ask Allie.”

“I have such a charming daughter,” Bea laughed.

“Yer I am aren’t I? Have I got time for a shower before dinners ready?”

“If your quick you have.”

Debbie left them to it and ran upstairs for a shower.

After they ate dinner Allie kicked both Bea and Debbie out of the kitchen so she could do the dishes, Bea protested but Allie was having none of it. When she’d finished she returned to he lounge and sat next to Bea, cuddling into her side. Debbie looked over at them, “yep, they do look cute together”  
She thought to herself. A little later Debbie said goodnight to them both and headed to bed.

“I guess I should be going, let you get to bed.”

“Do you have to go?”

“It is getting late, and Boomer might think I’ve got lost,”

“You could stay here, I didn’t like it this morning when I woke up and you weren’t there. You can go if you really want to, but if you don’t I can text Booms and let her know you’re staying here.”

“ you really want me to stay?”

“Yes, so are you?”

“Ok, you’ve twisted my arm”

Grabbing her phone Bea sent a quick text to Boomer letting her know where Allie was.

Bea got up, holding out her hand for Allie, turning off the lights as they went upstairs.

“Grab your toothbrush from the bathroom, I’ll find you something to sleep in.”

Allie looked puzzled.

“You don’t think I share the bathroom with Debbie do you, she takes forever in there. I bagged the bedroom with the en suit when we moved her.”

When Allie returned Bea passed her some pyjamas.

“Mind if I use the bathroom first?”

“No, course not.”

Bea got ready for bed and brushed her teeth returning to the bedroom and getting into bed while she waited for Allie.

“You sure you don’t want me to stay in the spare room?”

  
“Why would I want you to do that? I like sleeping next to you, and you have no idea how strange that feels because I’ve never wanted to share a bed with anyone.”

Allie got into bed, and snuggled up to Bea, turning off the lamp Bea wrapped her arms round Allie, they lay there in silence just enjoying being close to each other, both of them falling asleep pretty quickly, exhausted from all the crying they had done that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may only manage one chapter tomorrow, because I'll be a little busy.


	12. Chapter 12

Allie was the first to wake up the next morning, opening her eyes finding Bea still tightly wrapped in her arms. Allie was pretty sure that this was some all too real dream and that she was going to wake up soon in some cold damp doorway. She nuzzled her face further in to Beas neck, holding onto her as if her life depended on it, too afraid to move, because if this was a dream it was one she never wanted to wake up from. She closed her eyes again and just lay there, her nerves kicking in again, what if Bea woke up and decided that this wasn’t what she wanted after all, she was too lost in her own head and hadn’t noticed that Bea had moved slightly, she was awake and looking at Allie.

“Good morning Allie,”

“Mmm, Bea, is this just a dream?”

“Well if it is we must both having the same dream.”

“Can we just stay here like this forever?”

“As much as I really want to, and trust me I really want to, I need to pee more,”

Allie groand and pulled away from Bea slightly,

“Are you coming back to bed?”

“Allie, its Sunday morning, I have nothing to do, there is no where else I’m going to go except get back into bed with you.”

They untangled themselves from each other and Bea went to use the bathroom before returning to the bedroom and getting back into bed, half propping herself up on her pillows and pulling Allie in so her head was resting on her chest. Neither of them said anything for a while, they just enjoyed being together, Bea still couldn’t believe that holding Allie felt so right, so natural, she’d never wanted to be this close to anyone other than Debbie.

Allie was the first to break the silence.

“Are you sure this is what you want? We’ve only known each other a few days, what if you wake up one morning and realise that that you don’t want to waste any more time on on an ex junkie whore?”

“Allie, stop it, what you did you did because you had no other way to survive, and it wasn’t your fault, the people who should have cared for you abandoned you when they should have held onto you, made the effort to get to know the person you told them you were. I could never do that to Deb, if she came to me today and told me she wanted to be a circus clown, even if I didn’t like it I would still support her, I can’t imagine how any parent can cast than own child to one side. But you have to believe me when I tell you that I’m not going to let you go, not without a fight anyway, if you ran away from me I would look for you all over again, although I think you might find it difficult to hide from me!”

“Yer, but…I ran away when it got tough, I get scared and that’s the only way I know how to handle things, if you say you don’t want me I know what I’ll do.”

“Why would I not want you? You’re forgetting I already know the bad things you’ve had to do, it hasn’t changed the way I feel, if anything all it’s done is made me want to hold on to you even tighter. I’m not stupid enough to think that everything is going to be plain sailing, nothing in life ever is but I’m pretty damn sure that if something is worth having it’s worth holding onto and fighting for, and Allie, I’m quite certain that I would fight for you until the last breath leaves my body.”

Allie could feel the tears in her eyes, she didn’t want to cry, but she couldn’t help it, no one had ever made her feel like she was safe, that she mattered to someone, Bea had scooped her up and pulled her out of the unbearable darkness that she had so easily found herself back in, treated her like she was a real person and not just a thing that could be played with then thrown away once she had had her fun.

“Hey, Allie, I didn’t mean to make you cry, I didn’t want to upset you.”

“You haven’t upset me,” she said through her sobs, “no one has ever cared enough to see me, and you see me, I don’t have a clue how else to respond, because I have never had anyone be so good to me before, I don’t know how I should feel or how I should act.”

“You know, we’re going to be a right bloody pair, I don’t even know if I can ever give you everything that you need, I don’t know if I can be enough for you, I know I’ve never wanted to be with with anyone before, so maybe we just try and work it out as we go?”

“Honestly Bea, right now just being with you is all I need.”

Bea got lost in her own thoughts for a while, she didn’t know any other relationship than the one she’d had with Harry and the thought of that made her question if she really could handle a real relationship, Allie might be quite content with what they had right now but the thought of taking things any further than they had now made her want to dig a hole a burry herself. Yes she guessed she could do the whole kissing, cuddling and hand holding thing, but she knew that sex had always been associated with pain and fear for her, and what if she could never go that far with Allie? Would Allie lose interest in her and just leave? She didn’t want to think about it but at the same time she couldn’t stop thinking about it, a knock on her bedroom door was enough to drag her from her thoughts and back into the here and now.

“Mum, are you awake? Is it safe to come in?”

“Deb seriously, I don’t know what you think I’m doing in here but what ever it is it’s safe to say I’m not doing it, so yes you can come in!”

Debbie opened the door slowly not even sure what she was expecting, a huge grin spread across her face when she saw her mum and Allie cuddled up together in bed.

  
“So, are one of you going to get up anytime this morning, because I’m starving and one of you really needs to feed me!”

Bea rolled her eyes and looked at Allie.

“See what I mean, she’s just a food monster, I have no idea how she’ll cope when she’s at uni.”

“Well I’m just going to have to eat as much as I can until I leave and then maybe I might just not waste away, now are you getting up?”

“Yes Deb, but Can I make a suggestion? Can we take Allie back to Boomers so she can get changed and then we can go out for breakfast, does sound ok to you?”

“If you two can get a move on you got a deal.”

\------------------------------

They both got out of bed, Allie disappeared in to the en suit to brush her teeth and freshen up before getting dressed, then Bea went for a shower leaving Allie to get dressed. Allie decided that she would wait downstairs for Bea to finish. Coming face to face with with Debbie at the bottom of the stairs. Allie was feeling nervous, even after Debbie had said she was fine with them being together she was still unsure about being alone with her, the what if’s running through her head. Her legs felt like lead and she felt like she couldn’t move. Debbie just looked at Allie a little puzzled when she didn’t move.

“Allie are you alright?”

“Y… yes, I’m fine”

“You don’t look fine, you look like you want to throw up right now.”

“No, it’s….its….just, nothing it doesn’t matter.”

“Allie, its fine, whatever your worried about you don’t have to be, I thought it was pretty obvious yesterday when I came home how I felt!”

“Well, yes but, you’ve had time to think about things since then.”

“What is there to think about? It’s obvious to any anyone who see's you together that you like each other, and mums been miserable for way too long, so please just relax, as long as you don’t do anything to hurt her we’re good.”

“I’d never do anything intentionally to hurt her.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about do you, so come on and sit down, knowing my mum we might be waiting forever.”

\------------------------------

They sat together waiting for Bea to make an appearance for another 20 minutes not saying much at all. Allie still couldn’t help but worry, Bea was closer to Debbie than anyone, she didn’t want to do or say anything that could make Debbie change her mind.

“So are you two ready to get out of here or are you going to sit there all day?”

“I could waste away waiting for you mum, why does it always have to take you so long to get ready?”

“I wasn’t that long, now come on or I’m going without both of you!”

Debbie didn’t need telling twice, she had her shoes and jacket on, Bea’s car keys in her hand and she was out the door. When Bea and Allie got to the car Debbie was sat in the back seat waiting for them.

“You two are too old and slow you know that right?”

“Hey, I’m not that old, and watch you say to me, I might change my mind about feeding you.”

Allie couldn’t help but laugh, she loved watching the way Debbie and Bea were together. They soon arrived at Boomers.

“You are coming in aren’t you?”

“Mum, I think Allie’s scared of Booms,”

“I am not, you can sit out here if you want, I’m going for a shower,”

“Allie take no notice, course we’re coming in with you, can’t miss an opportunity to wind Booms up about her hangover.”

\------------------------------

Debbie was rather shocked at the speed Allie got showered and changed.

“Mum ya really need to take lessons from Allie, 15 minutes, it takes you longer than that to decide what to wear.”

“So you guys are going out?”

“Yer Booms, we better, they still haven’t fed me yet!”

“Ya think I could, um, like tag along, cos ya know Allie’s supposed to be living here now, and well, she stayed with you guys last night.”

“Yes, ok Booms, I can take a hint, and it was one night.”

Bea headed for the door followed by Allie and Debbie.

“Well are you comin’ or not Booms?”

\------------------------------

After breakfast Debbie left to meet up with her friends and Bea dropped Boomer and Allie off. Boomer went straight in the house while Allie hung back with Bea.

“So, when will I see you again?”

“Depends?”

“On what?”

“When you want to see me again.” Bea said dropping her head a little.

“And there ya go again going all shy on me.”

“Yer, well”

Bea leaned back against the car.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing you every second of every day but I know I can’t, so I’ll just have to take what I can get.”

“That is just a tiny bit unrealistic,”

Allie couldn’t help but smile as she inched her way closer to Bea, not stopping until there were only a couple of inches between the. “Fuck it,” Bea thought to herself reaching out and taking both of Allie’s hands in hers entwining their fingers. Allie leaned in until her lips were ghosting over Beas ear.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Allie, you couldn’t have asked me that earlier?”

“I was going to, but then Debbie kinda interrupted us.”

“What if Boomer sees us?”

“Really, your bothered about Boomer?”

“I really have to go.”

“Ok, later then?”

“What if I don’t want to wait that long?”

“I thought you were shy?”

“Just kiss me will ya!”

Allie looked into Beas eyes, trying to find a glimmer of uncertainty, but she didn’t see any, leaning in she planted a gentle kiss on Beas lips before pulling away.

  
“Now you can go!”

Allie let go of Beas hands and turned to walk towards the house, looking back at her over her shoulder,

“I’ll call you later.”

A huge smile spread across her face as she walked towards the front door.

Bea felt like her legs were going to give way, she stood, leaning against the car as she watched Allie walk away.

“Not if I call you first,” she said under her breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is being posted later than I would normally post, I've been really busy today, I'm actually surprised I got this finished.


	13. Chapter 13

Arriving home Bea knew she had a lot to do but her thoughts kept drifting back to Allie and she was having a hard time concentrating, she sat down, “just for a minute,” she thought to herself, that minute turned into half an hour, her mind wondering back to Allie and that kiss, she closed her eyes and she could still feel her lips against hers. She stood up shaking her head,”fuck sake, pull yourself together you’re not a fucking teenager,” she mumbled to herself. Deciding that she had better get on with what needed doing around the house, she had to work the next day and day dreaming was never part of any typical Sunday for her, but she just couldn’t help it. She headed upstairs to get the laundry that needed doing, going back to the kitchen and putting a load in the machine before returning upstairs to change the bedding on hers and Debbie’s beds. Debbie’s room was a mess, she had started packing and there was stuff all over the place, looking at the mess she just shook her head before changing the bedding, then moving onto her own bed, the biggest mistake she made was to pick up the pillow on Allie’s side of the bed, she could still smell her on it, “get a grip, this really isn’t helping,” she told herself. She finished up and sat down on the bed retrieving her phone from her pocket sending a text to Allie.

**Is it crazy that I miss you already?**

Receiving a reply almost straight away.

**If it is then we must both be crazy!**

She smiled to herself, at least it wasn’t just her feeling it.

\------------------------------

Two hours later the house was clean and most of the laundry was done, checking the contents of the fridge she headed out to the supermarket, she really needed to do the shopping an empty fridge only lead to a very unhappy Debbie. Halfway round the supermarket she heard a familiar voice shouting to her,

“Red,” Frankie shouted

Turning around she spotted a grinning Franky, Bridget at her side just shaking her head.

“Hold up, I want to talk to you,”

Franky quickly closing the gap between them.

“What’s so important that it can’t wait until tomorrow Franky?”

“Oh well ya know, just wondered what you’ve been to,”

“Really, what does it look like?”

“Na I don’t mean now I mean this morning!”

“What the fuck are you on about?”

“Come on Red, you know what I’m talking about.”

“No Franky I don’t, want to give me a clue?”

“I heard you had breakfast with blondie this morning.”

“Yer, then you’ll know I also had breakfast with Boomer and Debbie, what’s your point?”

“Well a little bird told me that blondie kissed ya!” Franky beamed with a cheeky smirk on her face.

“Fuck,” she thought to herself, feeling the blush rise over her face.

“And do you believe everything a little bird tells you?”

“Franky, leave Bea alone,” Bridget said in a pretty harsh tone.

Looking at Bridget with a frown Franky looked back at Bea grinning,

“This isn’t over Red, I’ll get the truth outta ya yet.”

Bridget pulled on Franky’s arm trying to get her to hurry up, Franky huffed and walked off, Bridget looked over her shoulder at Bea and mouthed “sorry,” before getting Franky’s attention once again.  
“Oh god, tomorrow is going to be a bad day,” Bea thought to herself. She quickly finished up the shopping, managing not to run into Franky again, before returning home.

\------------------------------

Once the shopping was put away Bea was restless, she tried watching tv, she couldn’t find anything to watch, she tried reading a book, that lasted for all of five minutes when she realised she kept reading the same sentence over and over again, so she grabbed her sketch book, even though her mind drifted off a couple of times to the interrogation she would get from Franky the next day she eventually put it to the back of her mind. She was pulled from her concentration an hour later by her phone beeping twice in quick succession, dropping her sketch book down on the coffee table she picked her phone up from the arm of the sofa seeking a text from Debbie and one from Allie. Choosing to read Debbie’s text first.

**Mum, I won’t be home for dinner**

She rolled her eyes before sending a reply

**Glad you let me know, hope you’re enjoying yourself**

Opening Allie’s text she couldn’t help but smile

**I’m so bored, what are you doing**

**Nothing much**

**Want some company, we can do nothing much together**

**Won’t Booms miss you?**

**No, she’s gone out**

**What a coincidence I’m home alone to, want me to come pick you up?**

**If you want to**

**I’ll be there in 15 minutes.**

Just the thought of seeing Allie again sent a rush of excitement through her body, putting her shoes on and trying to grab her jacket and car keys at the same time. 15 minutes later she pulled up outside a Boomers seeing Allie sat on the step waiting for her. Allie jumped up and rushed over to the car, quickly getting into the passenger seat. Looking Bea straight in the eye.

“You know, I really want to kiss you again.”

“Nothing stopping you!”

They both leaned in their lips meeting, Allie was just about to pull away when she felt Bea’s hand on the back of her neck pulling her in and deepening the kiss, seconds later she dropped her hand and pulled away dipping her head and blushing the same colour as her hair.

“Wow, Bea where did that come from?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged.

“Sooo, what do you want to do?”

“I thought we could go back to mine, order a pizza and watch a movie, unless you want to do something else, Debs not coming home for dinner.”

“You know what, that sounds perfect.”

  
15 minutes later they were sat on the sofa, Bea had ordered the pizza and they were looking for a movie to watch, eventually agreeing on a comedy, they sat back on the sofa and cuddled up together. 45 minutes later there was a knock on the door, Bea got up and went to the door, paying for the pizza and returning to the sofa putting the pizza box on the coffee table. After eating half the pizza Bea took the rest into the kitchen leaving it on the counter knowing all too well that Debbie would finish it off as soon as she got home. Grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge she returned to the sofa and cuddled back up to Allie. Bea couldn’t help but look at Allie out of the corner of her eye, she really wanted to kiss her again but Allie looked so engrossed in the movie. She sighed to herself.

“What’s wrong?

“Nothing!”

“So why did you sigh?”

“No reason.”

Allie turned to look at Bea.

“What’s wrong? Do you want me to go?”

“What! No, no it’s just……”

Bea turned to look at Allie, looking from her eyes to her lips, she couldn’t help it.

“You can kiss me, you don’t have to ask.”

“Yer.”

Allie just nodded.

Bea leaned in connecting their lips, one hand instinctively reaching the back of Allies neck, the other snaking around her waist, both of Allies hands finding their way behind Beas neck. Allie licked Beas bottom lip asking for admittance which Bea granted, their tongues gliding together neither fighting for dominance, they only broke apart when they were both fighting for air.

“Fuck Bea,”

“Did I do something wrong?”

An overwhelming feeling of shyness overcoming Bea as she hung her head not wanting Allie to look at her.

“Fuck no, I just thought you weren’t ready for that yet.”

“Neither did I, but, it just felt right.”

“I’m not complaining.”

  
They cuddled back up together trying to finish watching the movie, both of them only really thinking about that kiss. The movie over Allie stood up,

“I think I better get going.”

“You don’t have to, you could stay over again.”

“I could, but I think a boomer would start asking questions if I stay again.”

“You’re probably right.”

After taking Allie home and sharing a few more kisses before Bea would let her get out of the car she arrived back home finding Debbie on the sofa finishing off the pizza.

“Where have you been?” Debbie asked.

“I just dropped Allie off.”

“Thought she might have been staying again.”

“Debbie, she’ll get sick of the sight of me if she’s here all the time,” Bea tried to protest.

“Are you kidding me, I don’t think she’ll get sick of seeing you anytime soon!”

“You think?”

“No, I know she won’t.”

“Well you know what, I think I’m just gonna go to bed, some of us have to work tomorrow.”

“Ok mum, see you in the morning, I love you.”

“To the moon and back, see you in the morning.”

Bea got ready for bed, sitting back on the bed she sent a text to Allie.

**Wish you were still here, goodnight Allie**

Putting here phone down and putting it on charge she received a reply, a smile plastered on her face as she read the reply.

**Wish I was still there, I miss you already, goodnight gorgeous x**

Putting down her phone and turning off the lamp she pulled the covers up and settled down into thoughts of kissing Allie, sleep soon claiming her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should get the next chapter finished and posted later.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Note to self, do not binge watch Wentworth while trying to write)
> 
> I'm not totally happy with this chapter but here it is anyway.

Bea was awakened the next morning by her alarm, groaning she reached out and turned it off. Sitting up she looked around her room all too soon remembering that she had in fact gone to bed alone, she should be used to that by now, she’d been sleeping alone for the last three years, and until Allie came kicking and screaming into her life she hadn’t given it a second thought, believing that she would spend the rest of her life alone. She had no desire to be with anyone else, maybe though that was because in her mind she just didn’t think she could ever trust another man, it had never occurred to her that she would ever be attracted to another woman. She smiled, that first night with Allie had changed how she felt, although she remembers the uncomfortable feeling she had that first morning, it truly hadn’t lasted long. Dragging herself out of bed she took a shower and got herself dressed for the day ahead. One reason she loved her job was that she never knew what she would be doing. Today however she knew she was going to have to deal with Franky first, and she really was not in the mood for her teasing.

Picking up her phone before heading downstairs she saw two messages, she groaned internally seeing the first one was from Franky, the second from Allie. Reading Franky’s message first,

**You’ve got a lot to tell me later, and your not getting out of it.**

Opening Allies message cheered her up

**Good morning gorgeous, I missed you last night and this morning. Hope your day won’t be too busy x**

Replying to Allie before leaving her room.

**Good morning yourself, I missed you to, what do you have planned for your day?**

She shook her head, she didn’t think she came anywhere close to being gorgeous. Putting her phone in her pocket she went downstairs to make breakfast, starting the coffee first she decided on scrambled eggs. Debbie came dragging her feet and yawning into the kitchen. Slumping down into a chair and resting her head on the table.

“Morning, what’s for breakfast?”

“Scrambled eggs, that’s if you’re going to stay awake long enough to eat it.”

“Yer, I will, I need food!”

Bea laughed, placing a mug of coffee in front of Debbie, before putting on some toast.

“Any plans for today Deb?”

“Yer, I gotta get on with some packing, I’m not looking forward to it.”

“By the state of your room I’d be surprised if you can find anything.”

“Don’t worry I won’t go away and leave it like that, I don’t fancy coming home for the holidays and having to do it.”

“I’m holding you to that!”

  
Placing two plates down on the table she sat down opposite Debbie.

“Are you seeing Allie today?”

She smiled at the mention of her name.

“I don’t know, I don’t know what she’s doing today.”

“You haven’t asked her?”

“She’s free to do whatever she wants you know.”

“Yes, but I bet she’d rather be spending the day with you.”

“I do have to go to work you know.”

\------------------------------

Bea arrived at the office just after 8:30am, she’d always liked to get there first. As she was walking through the door her phone beeped.

**I’m thinking that I need to look for a job, need to sort my CV out, not looking forward to that, I’ll go to the library and try and organise it.**

Bea went to her office and sat down before replying.

**You can come to the office and use the computer, I’m sure Liz wouldn’t mind helping you.**

**I wouldn’t want to get in the way**

**You could never be in the way. Why don’t you come over before lunch?**

**I’ll think about it.**

**Don’t think too hard will ya, I might hear the cogs turning from here!**

**Oh, your in a playful mood this morning**

**Yes well it’s your fault, will I see you later?**

**Try and stop me, see you at lunch time gorgeous x**

Just then Franky came bursting through the door, Bea looked at the time 8:45am, “oh god she’s early,” she thought to herself, hoping Liz would be in soon.

“Why are you early Franky?”

“Oh ya know, kinda need a chat with the boss”

“Is that so?”

“So, blondie kissed ya, did ya like it?”

“What do you think Franky?”

“Well I know I’d like it, but I’m not talking about me, so did ya?”

“Yes,” was all she could say as she shook her head.

“So was that the only kiss?”

“Franky!”

Just then Liz walked through the door, spotting Franky.

“Bridget kick you out of bed this morning”

“Na, just needed a word with Red.”

“So Red, this isn’t over…..I’ll get it out of you before the day is over.” She laughed walking out of Beas office and going to her own, slamming the door behind her.

\------------------------------

An hour into their working day and they had already picked up a new case, the kind that Bea hated because it generally involved working late, and it meant having to work with Franky a lot more meaning she would have to put up with her constant teasing and questioning. Franky hated having to work late so she wasn’t pleased.

“Seriously Red you had to take it, who cares if some blokes wife is cheating on him?”

“It’s a job, I can always handle it on my own, but you don’t get paid for sitting around all day, no work no pay simple as.”

“Yer I know, so better give me a look at the details.”

Bea handed over the file and Franky stomped off back to her office.

They picked up a couple more straight forward jobs that were only going to take a couple of days at the most, before they knew it was almost lunch time. Sick of looking at her computer screen for one morning Bea went for a chat with Liz and a coffee.

“Everything alright love?”

“Yes, just need a break.”

“Everything ok with Allie, how’s she doing living with Boomer?”

“I think everything’s fine, I meant to ask, you wouldn’t mind helping Allie with her CV would you?”

“Course not love, hey you know Will, I bumped into him yesterday, he’s looking for someone at his bar, turns out the last girl he took on wasn’t reliable.”

“Hey you know I’m sure Allie said that she’d worked in a bar after she left school, maybe you could mention it to her.” Bea remembered everything Allie had told her but she didn’t want seem like she knew too much about her, not just yet anyway.

“So is she stopping in today, or have you not arranged it with her yet?”

“I think she’ll be in in a little while, I told her to come by before lunch.”

Bea flopped down into one of the chairs, rubbing her hands against her jeans, she was getting impatient, she wanted to see Allie, looking over at the clock 12:30, “maybe she changed her mind” she thought to herself. She could text her but she didn’t want to crowd her, she missed her, she couldn’t help it.

“Right I’m going to meet Gidge for lunch before she goes to work, are ya comin’ with Red?”

“Na, think I’ll pass”

With that Franky was out the door, Bea walked back to her office.

“You not going for lunch love?”

“Not really hungry Liz, think I’ll just work through.”

Bea went back to working on her computer mentally chastising herself for feeling sorry for herself.  
There was a light tap on her office door, she looked up but no one opened it, she went back to looking at the screen again, she heard the tapping again, “fucking Frank,” she thought to herself, getting up from her chair crossing the room and opening the door and there she was Allie standing there looking a little upset.

“Allie what’s the matte?”

“I’m sorry, I thought I remembered the way to your office, but I got lost!”

“Hey, it doesn’t matter, have you eaten?”

She shook her head.

“Come on, Liz I’m taking Allie for lunch.”

“No problem love, I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Haven’t you been for lunch yet?”

“No, I brought my own today, had a bit of filing to catch up with and a few bills to get ready to be sent out, you can’t pay me if you don’t get the money in can you?”

Taking Allie by the hand she led her out the door coming face to face with Franky.

  
“Well what do we have here then?” Franky looked down at their joined hands and smirked.

“I’m taking Allie for lunch, if it’s all the same to you.”

“You’ll keep Red, but I still got questions.” She winked at Allie and walked into the office.

“What’s up with her?”

“I’ll tell you later, right now let’s just go and eat.”

\------------------------------

An hour later they returned to the office.

“Allie love, Bea mentioned that you might have worked in a bar before, I know someone who is looking for someone in his bar, if you’re interested I can take you over to meet him.”

“Yes I did after I left school, but it’s been a long time.”

‘The offers there, let me know and I’ll arrange a time with him to take you over.”

“Thanks Liz, I’ll think about it.”

“Allie, I need a word with you,” Pointing in the direction of her office.

Once inside her office Bea just couldn’t help herself, wrapping her arms around Allie’s waist, pulling her in close and kissing her.

“Sorry, I just had to do that!”

“Do you hear me complaining?”

Taking Allie by the hand she led her to a chair in front of her desk, sitting down in the chair next to her.

“You should take Liz up on her offer, I know Will, he’s pretty easy going.”

“You think I should?”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

“I’m going to be working a lot this week,” she sighed, “ I’ll have to work late.”

“Starting tonight?”

“No, tomorrow, haven’t worked everything out with Franky yet, so I’m free tonight.”

“What makes you think I am?”

“Sorry, you need time on your own, I just, well….I won’t get to see you much.”

“Bea, I was joking, I love spending time with you.”

Before Bea could say anything else Franky burst through her office door.

“Fuck sake Franky have you ever heard of knocking?”

“Yer, course, I was just hoping to catch the two of you,”

“What talking. Because that’s all we were doing.”

“Oh come on Red, was it one kiss or more than one?”

Allie got up from her chair

“You know Franky, did no one ever tell you that a lady doesn’t kiss and tell?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well you Franky are no lady, Bea on the other hand definitely is!”

Franky just stood there opened mouthed.

“I’m going to talk to Liz, arrange a time to go over to the bar and see about that job.”

Franky shook her head

“She got you there Franky, I’m impressed, Franky Doyle lost for words,” Bea laughed.

\-----------------------------

Liz phoned Will and arranged to take Allie over to the bar the following evening, she was nervous but Liz assured her that Will was great, and that she’d wait around to give her some moral support.   
Bea and a Franky organised how they were going to work their new case. By the time they had finished it was 6pm.

“Time to get outta here Red.”

“Sure is, Debbie will be waiting to be fed,”

Leaving her office she wasn’t expecting Allie to still be there.

“I think Allie’s talents may be wasted working in a bar, she’s been helping me out, she’s a great assistant.”

“Liz, I’m sure she has plenty of hidden talents but I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want to work here, not unless I got rid of Franky.”

“Oh thanks Red, way to make a girl feel loved.”Franky protested.

“Come on let’s all get out of here.”

\------------------------------

“Guess I better be getting back to Boomers,”

“Yer, I guess,” Bea said a hint of sadness in her voice.

Allie looked at Bea, her head hung down looking at her feet.

“You know, I can always text Boomer and let her know I’ll be home later if that’s what you want.”

“It’s not just about what I want Allie, if you want to go home you can, I’ll drop you off, save you from getting lost again.”

“Maybe I don’t want to go home just yet.”

“No!” Bea looked up looking Allie in the eye.

“No Bea, right now I’d rather be were ever you are since it seems your busy most of the week.”

“Come on then, get in, your coming home with me.”

\------------------------------

As soon as they walked through the door the smell of food invaded their senses. Walking into the kitchen they found Debbie cooking.

“It’s about time you showed up, dinners almost ready,”

“Sorry boss, you could have let me know you were cooking.”

“Well I could have, but where’s the fun in that?”

“Hope your hungry Allie, there’s loads, guess you can take some home to Booms, if you’re going home?”

“Guess I will be, your mum’s going to be busy for the rest of the week.”

“The rest of the week errr…..that’s not tonight though is it?”

Allie just shrugged and looked at Bea.

“Anyway sit down already will you dinners ready.”

After dinner Allie helped Bea do the dishes even though Bea told her it wasn’t necessary. Debbie went to her room to do some more packing, although Allie thought she was just using that as excuse to leave them on their own.

“What time do you want me to take you home?”

“Trying to get rid of me?”

“No, not at all, I don’t want to get rid of you at all, I was hoping that you would stay, but you don’t have to.” Bea suddenly began feeling nervous.

“Bea, I can’t honestly think of anything else I’d rather do, but only if your sure.”

“Wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t would I?”

“Well I’d hope not.”

“Shall we just go to bed and watch tv?”

“I’m not going to say no, but I better text Boomer, she’ll be pissed if I don’t let her know I’m not going home.”

“Ok, I’ll go up now, don’t take too long with that text.”

“Oh I won’t.”

Allie decided that she’d give Bea a few minutes before she followed her. She sent a text to Boomer before turning the lights off and heading upstairs to join Bea.

“That took a long time to send a text,”

“Na, I just thought I’d give you a few minutes to get ready for bed,”

“As sweet as that is you didn’t have to.”

“I left you some pyjamas in the bathroom.”

Allie went to brush her teeth, returning from the bathroom pyjamas in hand. Bea looked at her with a questioning expression on her face.

“You know, as much as I love being in your pyjamas I have to confess that I really hate wearing them, so if you don’t mind, I’m just going to have to come to bed like this,” removing her jeans as she spoke and getting under the duvet and snuggling up to Bea.

“Now, are we really going to watch tv.”

Bea turned on her side to face Allie, wrapping her arms round her and pulling her in close.

“Do you have any better ideas?”

“Oh I do, I think I need some of your sweet kisses, just to remind me how good a kisser you are especially since I might not get any for the rest of the week.”

They lay there cuddled up together kissing until they were both so tired that they couldn’t stay awake any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on the next chapter, should have it posted tomorrow.


	15. Chapter 15

Bea woke up before her alarm went off, the sun was barely up, and in the half light of her bedroom Allie looked so beautiful, she couldn’t deny it. Still wrapped up in each other’s arms, she loved waking up like this, she never thought she could feel like this. Then she remembered, for the rest of the week work had to be her priority, she never minded work taking over her life until she had Allie. She knew she was going to miss her, but she had to make work her priority, she loved what she did, but her job meant she had less time for her personal life. She pulled Allie in closer, wanting to feel her body against hers, she kissed her on her forehead and then it hit her, she wanted more, she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted, but she knew it was more than kisses and cuddles. Having Allie’s body so close to her’s ignited a fire within her that she was struggling to understand. Groaning she wriggled out of Allie’s embrace and went for a shower.

Allie woke up, reaching over to Bea’s side of the bed and finding it empty she sat up, she could here the water running, her mind wondering to not so innocent places, the door opening was enough to bring her back to reality. “Oh fuck,” she thought, seeing Bea for the second time standing in front of her in nothing but a towel.

“Sorry, did I wake you up?”

“No, I woke up and you weren’t here and I missed you.”

“I woke up before the alarm, just thought I’d get up.”

“Doesn’t matter, I just like waking up with you.”

Allie got out of bed and pulled on her jeans.

“I’ll leave you to it, I’ll go put the coffee on.”

“Coffee, really that’s the best you can come up with?” She muttered to herself as she walked into the kitchen. She knew that if she hadn’t left the bedroom chances were she would had ripped that towel off her and dragged her to the bed, and she didn’t want that, that was the one thing that would really get her kicked out of the house and out of Bea’s life forever. And she intended on sticking around. Allie stood staring out of the window completely lost in her thoughts, she didn’t hear Bea walk into the kitchen, crossing the kitchen she walked up behind Allie wrapping her arms around her waist and kissing her on the neck.

“Fuck Bea, did you have to sneak up, on me like that?”

“I didn’t sneak up on you, you were miles away, what’s got you so distracted?”

“Only you!”

“Me, really!”

“Yes you, it’s always you, but…um….I should get going.”

“No you’re not, I’ll take you home before I go to work.”

Allie turned round in Bea’s arms and wrapped her arms around her neck pulling her in for a kiss. Bea pulled her in closer just as Debbie made an appearance.

“Ugh, put each other down with you, it’s too early for that!”

“Oh hush up Deb.”

“I will, but only if you feed me.”

Bea shook her head pulling away from Allie.

\------------------------------

Bea took Allie home before heading to work, surprised that Liz and Franky were already there when she arrived.

“What’s going on here?”

“I thought I’d come in early to get everything ready, and Liz needs to take off early to take Allie to Will’s bar.”

“What are you up to Franky?”

“Me, nothing, why do you always assume I’m up to something?”

“Maybe because you usually are.”

They day was dragging for Bea, she loved being busy but missing Allie was not helping matters.  
She was bored with sitting in the car, watching people was more Franky’s thing than hers, deciding that she would throw Allie a quick text she didn’t see Franky pull up behind her.

**Hope everything goes well at the bar**

She jumped when Franky tapped on the window, looking up before rolling the window down.

“Jesus Franky,”

“Sorry Red, thought you could use some lunch,”

Passing a sandwich and a coffee to her, before walking round the car and jumping in the passenger seat.

“Any action?”

“Na, I’ve been sat here two bloody hours, but then I always get the boring crap.”

Franky laughed, “I’m so telling blondie that.”

“What?”

“That you reckon she’s boring!”

“Franky you know I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Sure Red, ever thought it’s you that’s boring?”

“I am not!”

“Guess I’ll just have to ask blondie about that.”

\------------------------------

Allie was nervous she’d been pacing the floor for the last twenty minutes, waiting for Liz to pick her up, she hadn’t worked in a bar for years. A knock on the door stopped her in her tracks, she opened the door to a smiling Liz.

“You ready love?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be, but I’m really nervous.”

“It’ll be alright, I’m sure Will is going to love you.”

“But what happens when he finds out what I used to do?”

“Oh hey now, Will is like the rest of us, he took a chance on one of his bartenders, young Shane, poor kid got himself into a bit of trouble, all Will expects is for you to turn up and do your job, he’s not bothered about your past.”

“You sure?”

“Course love, now come on , we don’t want to be late.”

Arriving at the bar Allie took a deep breath, “you can do this,” she told herself.

Liz smiled at her as they headed inside, patting her on the the shoulder for reassurance.

Will was sitting on a stool at the bar when they entered.

“Hey Will.”

Will got off the stool and walked towards them.

“Liz, great to see you.” Hugging her before turning to Allie.

“And you must be Allie, good to meet you.” Extending his hand To shake Allie’s.

“It’s nice to meet you to,” she said nervously.

“Hey, there’s no need to be nervous, let me show you around the place, and then you can meet Shane.”

Allie looked at Liz and she nodded to her before taking a seat at the bar and ordering a Diet Coke.

Will showed Allie round then took her behind the bar to meet Shane.

“I’m sure Shane will be happy to help you settle in, I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

Allie helped Shane behind the bar not noticing that Will had been watching her, she was great with the customers and seemed top pick the work back up quickly, not really needing to ask Shane anything.

Will sat down next to Liz and beckoned Allie over. Her nerves kicked in again as she approached him.

“Well Allie I’m impressed, the job is yours if you want it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I’ve got the shifts covered for this week but if you want to work here, I’d love for you to start next week, I’ll ease you in, it’s quiet from opening time till five, and you’ll be working with Shane, so what do you say?”

“That’s fantastic, thank you.”

“I’ll let Liz get you home now, I’ll see you next week Allie.”

Allie was so happy, all she wanted to do was see Bea and tell her, then she remembered she probably wasn’t going to see her until the weekend.

“See, I told you Will was going to love you, you did a great job Allie.”

“Thanks Liz, you’ll never know how much I appreciate your help.”

“No worries love, now don’t you want to let Bea know how it went?”

Allie looked at Liz questioningly, Liz just smiled back at her. Allie doubted Bea had told Liz anything, Franky knew because of Boomer, maybe Franky had told Liz.

“I don’t want to disturb her while she’s working.”

“Whatever you say love, now let’s get you home, I’m sure Boomer will want to help you celebrate.”

\------------------------------

The week had passed so slowly for Bea, and now it was Friday. She was not in the mood to be working late, she missed seeing Allie, the week had consisted of texts and a few phone calls between them. And Debbie was leaving the next day for uni. Hearing the passenger door open pulled her from her thoughts, as Franky got in.

“What do you want Franky?”

“Relax will ya, Gidge is working late so I thought I’d make myself useful and let you get off home early.”

  
“Really, and what do you want in exchange?”

“Nothin’ thought you would want to spend the evening with Deb and blondie, hey I can be thoughtful ya know.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”

Franky was already out of the car, bending down and looking Bea straight in the eye,

“Yer, now get out of here before I do change my mind.”

It was only 3pm, she didn’t need telling twice.

\-------------------------------

Pulling up in the drive she grabbed her phone and called Allie.

“Bea, is something wrong?”

“No, I wanted to know if you wanted to come over.”

“I thought you were working late.”

“I thought I was too but Franky told me to go home.”

“Give me an hour.”

“An hour?”

“Bea, we haven’t seen each other all week, I’m sure an hour won’t kill either of us.”

“Yer ok” she sighed.

“I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

Allie had other plans, running upstairs she had a quick shower and got changed, she threw a change of clothes in a bag, running back downstairs she almost collided with Boomer.

“Where’s the fire?”

“What? Sorry, I’m in a hurry.”

“Well doh, I can see that, you off to Bea’s again?”

“Yes, why?”

“Nothin’, just haven’t seen ya move that fast all week.”

“Ya need a lift?”

  
“You wouldn’t mind?”

“Na, Maxi closed the salon early cos it was dead, hasn’t been anyone in since 2.”

“Could you just drop me off at the the shops near Bea’s, I need to get something?”

“I can wait for ya and take you there.”

“Na, the shops will be fine.”

Boomer dropped her off and Allie headed straight for the florist, picking up a dozen red roses. It was only a five minute walk to Bea’s, so she knew she’d get there before Bea would leave to pick her up. Arriving outside the front door she took a deep breath before knocking, she heard footsteps and the door opened a very surprised Bea looking at her.

“Allie.”

“Surprise.”

“I thought I was picking you up? And why are you standing there with one arm behind your back?”

“Well you could ask me in before you start grilling me.” She giggled.

“Yer, sorry come in.”

Allie walked in, turning round holding the roses out.

“These are for you.”

“Allie, you don’t have to buy me anything, but thank you their beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you?”

Bea blushed.

“I better put a these in some water.”

She went to the kitchen not noticing that Allie had followed her, she wrapped her arms around Bea’s waist whispering in her ear, “I’ve missed you.”

She finished putting the flowers in a vase leaving them on the counter beside her and turned around.

“I’ve missed you to.”

“Where’s Debbie?”

“I have no idea, but she won’t be far away.”

Bea wrapped her arms round Allie pulling her in closer, looking from her eyes to her lips.

“Bea, if you want to kiss me just do it already.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on the next chapter, not sure if I'll get it finished today.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Debbie leaves for uni.
> 
> Sorry, this is a boring chapter, it will improve from here, I promise.

Debbie returned home an hour later surprised to find her mum cuddled up with Allie on the sofa.

“I thought you were working late again.”

“I was but Franky told me to come home.”

“That’s a good thing really, we have to get an early night, you are still driving me to Sydney aren’t you?”

“Deb I promised I would didn’t I?”

“That’s a long drive Bea, it’s what 9 hours?”

“Yes, but I need to know Deb gets there safely.”

“Hey, I know that, I was only saying it’s a long drive, so I guess you’re staying the night.” Allie sighed.

“Yer, you could come with us, if you wanted to.”

“I’d just be in the way.”

“No you wouldn’t, would she Deb?”

“Actually it sounds like a good idea to me, you wouldn’t have to drive back on your own.”

“So, are you coming with us?”

“Err, can’t really refuse can I?”

“Well you can, but then I’d be disappointed.”

Deciding on a Chinese takeaway for dinner as Bea really was not in the mood to cook. Allie helped Bea with the dishes after they had eaten, Debbie choosing to go to her room to make sure that she had packed everything.

“I better take you back home?”

“Why?”

“Well I don’t think one change of clothes is enough if your still coming with us do you?”

“I never thought of that.”

“I don’t think Boomer would be happy with you going home at 5 in the morning do you?”

“Oh god no!”

After picking up more clothes and letting Boomer know that she would be gone for the weekend they returned to Bea’s. Deciding that taking a shower and watching tv in bed was really the best option otherwise they would stay up later than was advisable, and be really tired when they had to get up. Cuddling up in bed choosing to watch a movie both of them just happy to get some time together.

The alarm woke both of them up at 4am.

“Bea it’s too early”

“Don’t you want to come with me?”

“Course I do, but it’s too early!”

“I’m going for a shower, don’t you go back to sleep.”

“I’ll try not to.”

After her shower Bea found Allie fast asleep again. Pulling the covers off her didn’t have the desired effect, knowing that she hated being tickled Bea knelt on her side of the bed and started tickling her,

“Bea, stop it!” Allie laughed.

“Are you going to get up and get in the shower?”

“Don’t want to.”

“Then I won’t stop”

“Ok, ok I give in I’m getting up.”

Debbie was woken up by Allie laughing, noticing the time she knew it was time to get up. She was excited to be going to Sydney, but she was going to miss her mum. She headed downstairs to kitchen finding Bea there already making a start on breakfast.

“Mum, why was Allie laughing?”

“She wouldn’t get up so I tickled her.”

“She is up now right?”

“Yes, she’s in the shower.”

“I’m going to miss you.”

“I know baby, I’m going to miss you to.”

“At least you’ve got Allie, I’m sure she isn’t going anywhere.”

“I hope not.”

Neither Bea or Debbie had noticed Allie walk into the kitchen.

“Bea Smith, I’m not going anywhere, thought I’d told you that already, or did you not believe me the first time?”

“Ha, told ya, you’re not getting rid of her that easily.”

The three of them sat down to breakfast together, after breakfast Debbie started bringing her bags down while Bea and Allie washed the dishes.

“Are you sure you’ve got everything Deb?” Bea asked sarcastically.

“Think so, why?”

“Just checking, not sure we’re going to get all of this in the car.”

“Mum! I haven’t got that much.”

“Ok Deb, if you say so, you can take it all out to the car.”

Debbie did find it a little difficult to get the last bag in the boot, but she did manage it after rearranging them.

“Ha, I did it.” She thought to herself.

  
\------------------------------

Twelve hours later Debbie was settled in her dorm room, Bea and Allie were laying on the bed in their hotel room. Bea had been quiet since they had left Debbie, Allie knew it was because she was going to find it difficult to leave Debbie behind and being exhausted from the long drive also wasn’t helping. Allie wasn’t sure what to do to, and she knew nothing she could say would make her feel better. Allie started to doze off when she felt Bea turn over and put her arm around her pulling her closer.

“I’m glad you came with me.” She said as she nuzzled into Allie’s neck.

“I would go anywhere you asked me to go.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

They didn’t even get ready for bed, both of them falling asleep tangled together.

  
Allie woke up first not sure what time it was, not wanting to move from Bea’s embrace to check the time either. She lay there a little while longer before deciding that she really needed to check the time because they had promised to take Debbie for breakfast before they returned home. Untangling herself from Bea she looked at her phone, almost 7am, she knew they had fallen asleep early so decided she should wake Bea up.

Stroking Bea’s cheek she whispered in her ear, “Bea,”

“Mmmm.”

“I think we should get up.”

“Yer, what time is it?”

“Almost 7am.”

“Guess we should then.”

They both showered and changed before checking out of the hotel and going to pick Debbie up. Spending a couple of hours with her before Bea said that they really had to set off. Arriving back at Bea’s just after 7pm.

“Do you want me to take you home?”

“If you want to,” Allie sighed.

“Actually I don’t want to, will you stay with me?”

“You don’t have to ask.”

Once they were in the house Bea decided to order a pizza.

“Do you want a beer?”

“Right now that sounds good.”

Bea got two bottles from the fridge handed one to Allie before sitting down next to her, she took a mouthful of her beer just as her phone started ringing, seeing Franky’s name on the screen she groaned.

“What do you want Franky?”

“Well that’s nice, I was just wondering how your doing.”

“I’m fine Franky, missing Deb, but I’m fine.”

“I’m sure blondie will keep you occupied,”

“Really, that’s the first thing you think of?”

“I just meant that you’ve got her around so you’re not on your own, that was your dirty mind that read more into it!”

  
“I did not!”

“Yer, Red you really did.”

“So was there anything else you wanted?”

“No just wanted to make sure you were ok?”

“Bye Franky”

“Later Red.”

Shaking her head she hung up and put her phone down on the coffee table.  
The pizza arrived but neither of them were really all that hungry, only eating a couple of slices each.  
Bea yawned,

“You sound ready for bed.”

“I am.”

“You go up, I’ll lock up for you.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Why would I?”

Bea kissed Allie on the cheek before going to bed. Allie took the rest of the pizza in the kitchen, putting it in the fridge and disposed of the empty beer bottles. Locking the door and turning off the lights before heading to bed. Bea was already asleep, Allie took her jeans off and got into bed beside her, cuddling into her side and falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might get the next chapter posted later today.


	17. Chapter 17

Bea’s alarm sounded way too loud this morning as it dragged both of them from a deep sleep. Bea reached over and turned it off, flopping down on her pillow with a sigh.

“Anyone would think you didn’t want to get up.” Allie giggled.

“Oh yer, probably because I don’t want to, can’t we just stay here all day?”

“As nice as that sounds I have to start work today,”

“Shit sorry I forgot, nervous?”

“Mmm, just a little, but Shane is nice and I’ll be working with him this week at least.”

“Better get up then.”

  
“Are you working late again?”

“More than likely, Frankie will want to get home to Bridget.”

“Suppose she has better things to do than work.”

“And are you saying I don’t?”

Allie just shrugged and got out of bed, retrieving her jeans from the floor and putting them on.

“You better get ready.”

“Where are you going?”

“To make you some coffee, you know you’re grumpy if you don’t have coffee.”

Allie left the bedroom headed for the kitchen, putting a fresh pot of coffee on she sat down at the table. Losing herself in her thoughts she hadn’t realised that Bea was now standing behind her, wrapping her arms around Allie’s shoulders and kissing her on her head Allie jumped.

“No wonder you’re good at your job, you sneak around much too well.”

“I do not sneak around!” Bea protested.

“Yes you do.”

“Ok, if you say so, do you want anything to eat?”

“No, I’m not hungry, just coffee is fine.”

Bea poured them both a coffee and decided that she was just going to have cereal this morning. Finishing her coffee Allie stood up,

“And where are you going?”

“To get my bag,”

“You could always leave your things here you know, I don’t mind washing them for you, then the next time you stay over I won’t have to take you home just to pick a change of clothes up.”

“That’s presumptuous of you, who says there’s going to be a next time?”

Bea dropped her head and looked down at the table, thinking that maybe now Allie had a job she was just going to move on, feeling tears building in her eyes and trying to blink them away. “Why would she even want to be with me?” She thought to herself. Standing up from the chair she picked up their mugs and and the bowl she had used and dumped them in the sink, not bothering to wash them. Leaving the kitchen without a word she put on her shoes and jacket, picked up her car keys and bag.

“Bea, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I need to take you home and get to work.”

“Ok,” was all Allie said, putting on her shoes, Bea was already outside waiting for Allie, what she hadn’t noticed was that Allie hadn’t picked her bag up.

Arriving outside Boomers, Allie lent over to kiss Bea on the cheek, “call me when you finish work?”

“Yer maybe.”

Allie got out of the car and watched Bea drive away before she went inside to take a shower and get ready for her first shift at the bar.

\------------------------------

Bea stomped into the office, heading towards her office door opening it and slamming it behind her.

She hadn’t even noticed that Liz and Franky were standing there. Franky wasn’t having it, bursting into Bea’s office finding her seated in her chair tears streaming down her face.

“Red, what the fuck, who’s upset you, I’ll kick their arse!”

“It’s nothing Franky, just leave it will ya?”

“Na, this isn’t nothing, so out with it.”

Bea didn’t want to look at Franky, she felt stupid, she wasn’t even sure what the hell all this was with her and Allie. She was confused, but she really didn’t want to tell any of that to Franky, just for her to take the piss out of her. And she was sure that Franky would take the piss, the tears just kept falling, she couldn’t help it. She wanted to be with Allie she knew that much, but the thought that now Allie was getting her life sorted out she didn’t feel the same, if she ever had.

Franky walked round to where Bea was sitting, spinning her chair round to face her and knelt down in front of her taking both her hands in hers.

“Bea, you don’t cry like this for nothing, tell me please.”

“It doesn’t matter Franky, I’ve just made a mistake that’s all, I’m an idiot.”

“This is because of Allie isn’t it? I’ll kick her fucking arse.”

“No, no Franky…….I…I want to be with her, b…but I don’t think she wants that,”

“What? Are you blind? I’ve never seen anyone look at someone the way she looks at you, you’d think you’d created the fucking moon and stars just for her.”

“No, Franky,” shaking her head.

“So tell me what happened.”

“I said she should leave her stuff at mine so I didn’t have to keep taking her home to pick up a change of clothes the next time stays over.”

“And?” Franky urged.

Bea sobbed, “she, well she asked me who said there would be a next time?”

“You took her home? Did she take her stuff with her?”

Bea thought about that, she couldn’t remember seeing her with her bag.

“I don’t know,”

“How can you not know? Did she have a bag with her when you left her?”

“No.”

“Then I reckon it’s safe to say that she left her things behind.”

“You think?”

“No, I know.”

Silence descended between them for a minute before Franky spoke again.

“You know Bea, I think the two of you need to talk, and I know your not going to find it easy, but you have to tell her all this, this isn’t just the ‘I like you’ talk, know what I think? You’re falling for her and your falling for her hard and you don’t even see it.”

Bea just sat half looking at Franky trying to take in what she was saying to her.

“You want to see her all the time don’t ya? You hate her not being there when you wake up? Miss hearing her voice, her laugh, seeing her smile?”

“Yes, but”

Franky cut her off.

“There’s no but Bea, I know how that feels, I felt the same with Bridget, and you know what, it scared the shit out of me when I realised it.”

Bea couldn’t help but let out a small laugh

“Franky Doyle scared?”

“Yer, but if you ever tell anyone that I’ll deny ever saying it, then I’ll kick your arse.”

“Don’t worry, your secrets safe with me.”

“So now you’re going to dry your eyes, blow your snotty nose and go home.”

  
“Franky, I can’t, we haven’t finished working on this bloody case.”

Bea tried to protest but Franky was having none of it.

“Come on Red, we both know this is just a paranoid dick of a husband who thinks his wife is cheating on him, have we seen anything other than her going to bloody work and shopping?”

“No!”

“So go home, clear your head then pick blondie up when her shift finishes, I’m not putting up with your bloody face all day looking like that.”

Bea knows Franky’s right and eventually backs down and goes home.

As soon as Bea walks through the front door she sees Allie’s bag, “bloody idiot” she chastises herself.  
She couldn’t remember seeing Allie with her bag because she hadn’t taken it with her. Feeling like an idiot she kicked off her shoes and hung her jacket up. Taking Allie’s bag with her into the kitchen she deposited the contents into the washing machine setting it going.

Checking the contents of the fridge she remembered that she didn’t have time to go shopping the day before. Deciding to go to the supermarket, she knows she needs to talk to Allie, and cooking her dinner might make the conversation a bit easier, she leaves the house again and goes to the supermarket. She picks up the things she needed then decided that steak would be a good choice for dinner, she also picked up a couple of bottles of red wine.

She busied herself cleaning the house, doing her laundry and changing the beds. Getting everything washed, dried and put away leaving herself plenty of time for a shower before picking Allie up.

\------------------------------

Arriving outside the bar at 4:40pm, she got out of the car taking a deep breath, she felt nervous, why had she doubted Allie, why hadn’t she paid more attention that morning? She felt like an idiot. Taking another deep breath she headed towards the door of the bar, as soon as she walked in she spotted Allie behind the bar serving a customer. She waited until she had finished before approaching the bar and sitting on a stool catching Allie’s eye straight away. Allie smiled at her, and walked over.

“Hey”

“Hey, yourself.”

“Shouldn’t you be working?”

“It’s a long story, I’ll explain later.”

Allie looked at the time.

“I finish in 15 minutes”

“Yes I know, I’m cooking dinner for you.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know, but I want to, and I need to talk to you about something.”

“Sounds ominous, have I done something wrong?”

“No, no…I, well, I’ve…I’ve been a bit stupid, let my brain run away with itself, and I just need to tell you, ok?”

“Can I get you a drink?”

“No, I’m good, I’ll just wait until your shifts over.”

Just then Will entered the bar from the office, spotting Bea talking to Allie.

“Bea, its good to see you, not seen you around for ages.”

“Oh, hey Will, I’ve been busy….work and Deb going to university, you know how it is.”

“I do, so you checking up on Allie here?”

“What? No, just thought I’d give her a lift home.”

“Relax Bea, she’s doing a really great job, think I’ll be keeping her around for a long time, well as long as she wants to stay.”

“That’s good.”

Will looked at the time, only a few minutes before Allie’s shift was due to finish.

“Go on Allie get out of here, its quiet and I think you’ve definitely earned a few minutes off.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, off you go, you two have a good evening.”

Will took off behind the bar smiling at Allie, stopping her in her tracks when he put her hand on her shoulder, he leaned in a little and whispered in her ear,

“Just be patient with her, she’s had a pretty tough time.”

Allie just smiled and whispered back,

“I know, and I will.”

With that she walked round the bar, seeing Bea stood waiting for her by the door, linking her arm with Bea’s

“Shall we go?”

  
Will looked over at them and just smiled as they walked out of the door together.

\------------------------------

As soon as they entered the house Allie pulled Bea in to a hug.

“I missed you.”

Bea felt so guilty about the way she had been feeling that morning, she knew she had to tell Allie she just didn’t know how to say what she needed to say. She kept quiet for the time being wrapping her arms round Allle’s shoulders and pulling her in closer.

“I missed you to.”

Pulling away slowly, she took Allie by the hand and pulled her towards the sofa, Bea sat down pulling Allie into her lap, pulling her into a hug, and she knew right then that Franky was right, she was falling for her, and that scared her.

“Are you feeling alright Bea?”

“No, not really.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“I do, just not right now, you don’t mind do you?”

“Course not, when you want to talk about whatever it is that is bothering you I’ll be right here. Now tell me something, where did my bag disappear to?”

“I did what I said I was going to do, I washed your clothes and I put them away in my wardrobe, why?

“No reason, I could have done it myself, but thank you, why are you always so good to me?”

Bea didn’t answer, she knew the answer but still wasn’t ready to say it.

“Do you want a glass of wine?”

“Only if you do.”

“God, yes, I need one.”

Allie moved from Bea’s lap and sat beside her. Bea got up and went to the kitchen returning soon after with two glasses of wine.

“I’m going to start dinner, I hope steak is ok with you.”

“What’s the occasion?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe I just want to spoil you!”

“Bea, you spoil me every time we are together, just being able to be with you makes me feel like I’m being spoilt.”

Bea couldn’t believe how stupid she had been that morning, Allie was a joker, she knew that and she shouldn’t have blown what she had said out of proportion. She went to the kitchen to start dinner, followed soon after by Allie, who just really wanted to spend as much time as she could with her.

“Need any help?”

“No, I want you to relax.”

While Bea was cooking they chatted about Allie’s first shift, Allie tried to get Bea to give her a clue what she wanted to talk about but she wasn’t giving anything away.

After dinner, they did the dishes together, Bea washing and Allie drying. Bea filled their glasses again, grabbing the other bottle and taking it to the lounge with them, placing it on the coffee table. They sat close together on the sofa, Bea taking Allie’s hand in hers. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, before speaking.

“Allie, this morning, when I said you should leave your things here, “ she trailed off.

“Yes, and I left them, Bea please tell me what’s wrong, you’re worrying me.”

“I let my thoughts and fears take over, when you made it sound as if you didn’t want to stay again. I know it was stupid, I got scared, I am scared, I hate it when you aren’t here, I miss you all the time, I think about you constantly.”

“Bea, surly you know by now that I feel the same.”

“I think I do, but, well when I got to work I was a mess, Franky, well Franky made me see what is right in front of my face, and then she made me come home.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Bea went quiet, trying to say what she needed to say, taking a big gulp of her wine trying to control her nerves. Allie could see that she was struggling, she put her glass down, took the glass that Bea was holding from her putting that down on the coffee table. Turning her body towards Bea and taking both her hands in hers.

“Bea, please look at me!”

Bea turned but suddenly felt exposed and really shy.

“Bea, I think I know what you’re trying to say, and I know I can say that because…..because I’ve been falling in love with you since the first time I saw you. I’m also scared, because I’ve never felt like this ever, and also because I don’t feel like I deserve to be with someone as kind, thoughtful and as loving as you.”

Bea felt the tears threatening to fall, looking Allie straight in the eye, she didn’t know what to say, right then she knew, Allie was the person she had needed in her life for so long, she was patient, considerate and had a heart of gold.

“How did I ever get so lucky to have found you?”

“No Bea, I’m the lucky one, you found me, you saved me. You make me feel things that I never thought were possible, I really don’t deserve you.”

Bea didn’t know what to say, all she could do was pull Allie into a hug knowing that she never wanted to let her go, never in her wildest dreams had she thought that she would ever meet anyone who made her feel again, she had felt so numb for so long, then Allie crashed into her life, taking her by surprise, she was lost in a universe that was Allie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter, I will post the next chapter tomorrow


	18. Chapter 18

Bea woke up the following morning alone in her bed, she missed Allie terribly when she didn’t stay. The previous evening Allie had said she thought it was best that she went home, Bea had tried to protest but Allie would have none of it, leaving a very confused Bea. Allie would normally always stay when Bea suggested it, but last night she had wanted to go home. She lay in bed trying to work it out, driving herself crazy. Picking up her phone and deciding to send Allie a text.

**Good morning, I missed you when I woke up**

She didn’t expect a reply, surprised when she received one almost straight away.

**I missed you too, sorry I didn’t stay**

**Will I see you later?**

**Now that depends on how late you work doesn’t it?**

**If I promise to be home early will I see you?**

**You can count on it**

That was all Bea needed to send her heart racing and her stomach to flip, making a mental note to tell Franky that they had to wrap their case up. She was tempted to call Allie, she wanted to hear her voice, but in the end she resisted opting to get out of bed and get ready for the day ahead.

Arriving at the office, the first one there as was usual she went to her office to make a start on writing her report for their client. Ten minutes later she heard Liz and Franky arriving, both laughing.

Since she had left her office door open Franky spotted Bea immediately, throwing a grin and a wink her way before heading to her own office. A few minutes later Franky appeared at Bea’s door, seeing that Bea was busy she cleared her throat getting her attention.

“Can I do something for you Franky?”

  
“I need to have a word is all.”

“Well don’t just stand there, you make the place look untidy.”

Franky took a seat across from Bea for a change waiting for Bea to speak. Bea finished up what she was doing and turned her attention to Franky.

“So, what is it that your so desperate to talk to me about?”

“Well I was going to ask you how you’re feeling today, but looking at your face I’m guessing you and blondie talked.”

“Yer, we did, and before you ask everything’s fine.”

“That’s good Red, so I reckon we need to close this case down.”

“Great minds think alike.”

“Hu?”

“I had the same thought earlier, I’m writing up the report now, and besides, I kinda promised Allie I wasn’t going to work late tonight.”

“Fuck Red, she’s got you under the thumb.”

“Allie hasn’t got me under her thumb.”

“Umm, yer, she kinda has, Jesus I’m going hate to see you when she finally gets in your pants.”

“Fuck off Franky!”

The rest of the day passed pretty quickly, they picked up four new cases along the way, luckily nothing that was going to keep either of them out of the office for too long. Franky and Liz left a couple of minutes before Bea after she told them to go home early, it was only 4pm but she really wanted to go home. Just as she was locking up her phone rang.

"Hello"

“Hey Bea”

“Kaz, what can I do for you?”

“I was just wondering if you knew how Allie was getting on.”

“Umm, yer, she’s fine, she started work yesterday, hasn’t she been in contact with you yet?”

“No, I haven’t heard anything from her.”

“I could have a word with her for you.”

“So, you know where she is?”

  
“Yer, a friend of mine offered her her spare room, and Liz helped her get a job.”

“Bea……..oh, nothing it doesn’t matter.”

“Anything else I can help you with?”

“No, no I’ll call you in a few days.”

“Ok, bye Kaz.”

Bea did wonder what Kaz was going to say but she soon put it out of her mind, her need to see Allie much greater than worrying about that now.

She rushed home so she could jump in the shower and get changed, racing over to the bar arriving five minutes before Allie was due to finish, deciding not to go in choosing to wait by the car.

Allie had been looking at the clock every five minutes for the last hour, she couldn’t wait for her shift to finish, it had been quiet since 2pm and not only was she bored but she was missing Bea, she had been tempted to call her when she was on her break but not knowing if Bea would be busy or not was the only reason hat she didn’t. As soon as it was 5pm Allie grabbed her jacket and bag was out of there. As soon as she was out of the door she spotted Bea leaning against the car, she almost tripped over her feet trying to get over to her as quickly as she could.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Well someone told me that there was a new absolutely beautiful bartender working here, so I thought I’d hang around out here and see for myself.”

“Oh really? And have you seen her yet?”

“Na, don’t think so, guess I’ll just have to take you home instead.”

Bea stepped forward wrapping her arms round Allie’s waist pulling her in tightly and kissing her on the cheek.

“What was that for?”

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too, I was going to call you but I thought you might be busy.”

“Na, haven’t been busy all day.”

“As much as I’m enjoying this, do you really want to stand here for the rest of the day?”

“No, I think I’m taking you home with me.”

“Well come on then.”

\------------------------------

After dinner they were sat cuddled up together on the sofa.

“Allie, Kaz called me when I was leaving work.”

“Yer, what did she want?”

“She wanted to know if you were ok, I told her you were, but maybe you should call her, she sounded worried.”

“I will, I just don’t feel ready to talk to her yet.”

“Ok, I’m not trying to pressure you.”

“I know, I will, it’s just…”

“Allie, we don’t have to talk about it.”

“Yer, any ideas what else we could do?”

“Well….”

Bea turned to face Allie, pulling her closer to her planting a kiss on Allie’s lips.

“Oh, so that’s how it is is it?”

“Huh huh.”

Allie wriggled herself free from Bea’s arms before standing up, Bea’s eye’s never leaving hers. Standing right in front of Bea she leaned down kissing Bea on the forehead, before straddling her.

“And what are you doing?”

“You asked me if I had any ideas what we could do.”

Resting her hands on Bea's shoulders, leaning in kissing her on the lips, Bea didn’t know what to do with her hands, she wanted this, more than anything, she didn’t want this feeling to end. She snaked one hand around Allie’s waist, resting her hand on her back, her other hand found its way to the back of her neck, pulling her in closer deepening the kiss. Allie trailed her hands slowly down Bea’s arms, gently licking her bottom lip asking for entrance, Bea obliged, their tongues gliding together. Bea’s mind was racing, and her heart felt as if it would burst right out of her chest. They only broke apart briefly when breathing was becoming a problem. Bea wanted more and pulled Allie back in kissing her as if her life depended on it. Bea’s hand found its way under Allie’s shirt and she dragged her nails up her back earring her a moan from Allie, that just made Bea want more. Allie’s hand found its way to Bea’s breast and she felt her tense up, she pulled her hand away immediately, and pulled back from the kiss.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I got carried away, it's too soon for that,” dropping her head and resting it on Bea’s shoulder.

“Allie, it’s ok,it's not too soon, it’s just that… I’m not used to being touched like that, I’m not used to any of this.”

“I shouldn’t have let myself get carried away thought.”

“Allie, please, look at me.”

She picked her head up resting her forehead on Bea’s looking her in the eye.

“I want this, I…I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do, I don’t know how I’m supposed to act?”

“Bea, I want this too, and honestly, we can go as slow as you need, I don’t want you to feel like I’m pressuring you into anything you’re not ready for.”

“But what if I can’t ever get passed this, what if I can’t ever give you any more than this, you deserve so much more than this, than me.”

Allie shook her head.

“You’re wrong you know, it’s you that deserves so much more than me, I’m a fuck up.”

“No Allie, you stop that, I’ve told you before that I don’t see you like that, and if I have to tell you that every day for the rest of my life then I will.”

“Planning on sticking around that long are you?”

“Yes, if you’ll have me!”

“You know I will.”

“Are you staying over?”

“Not sure that’s a good idea really, I might get carried away again.”

“And…..”

“I really don’t want you to change your mind….about us.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen any time soon.”

“No?”

“No, so are you staying?”

“How can I refuse, I really miss waking up with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may working on the next chapter so I should get it posted tomorrow.


	19. Chapter 19

The rest of the week passed in much the same way, and soon enough it was Saturday afternoon. Bea was sitting in her office staring at her computer screen when Franky’s head appeared round the door.

“Red I’ve been thinking”

“I shouldn’t do too much of that you might strain yourself,” Bea laughed.

“Funny Red, very funny, but seriously, I think it’s time for a night out.”

“As good as that sounds I think I just want to go home and have a quiet night in.”

“Oh yer, another boring night in with blondie, come on it’ll be fun, ya remember what fun is don’t ya?”

“Franky!” Bea said only half protesting.

“Oh come on, ya can bring blondie along.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“God, don’t think too long will ya, I might die of old age before you decide.”

“I’ll text Allie and find out what she wants to do.”

“Fucks sake, you startin’ to sound like you’re an old married couple, ya gotta get permission to leave the house?”

“Fuck off Franky, have you asked Bridget yet?”

“Whatever Red.”

Franky retreated back to her own office.

Bea wasn’t really bothered about going out, much preferring to spend her evenings alone with Allie at home, but after thinking about it she decided that she was being a little selfish and that maybe Allie would enjoy a night out. Picking up her mobile she sent Allie a text.

**Franky wants to know if we want to go out tonight, what do you think?**

Knowing that she wouldn’t get a reply straight away she put her phone back down and turned her attention back to her computer screen, her phone beeped five minutes later.

**I think I’ll do whatever you want to do x**

**I’m not really bothered**

**Do we know who’s going? X**

**I’ll find out**

  
She left her office and knocked on Franky’s door, getting no response she walked in finding a rather frustrated looking Franky.

“What’s up with your face?”

“Fucking computer crashed, what do you want?”

“Allie wanted to know who’s going out tonight.”

“Usual, me obviously, Gidge will be late cos of work, Liz, Maxi and Booms.”

“No Doreen?”

“Na, she already had plans. So are ya coming or what?”

“I’ll get back to ya!”

Returning to her office she sent Allie a text letting her know who was going before going to get a coffee.

“Are you coming for a drink tonight love?”

“Not sure yet.”

“You and Allie got other plans love?”

“Huh, no, why do you ask?”

“Bea love, you have been spending a lot of time together,”

“Yer, I know.”

“You really like her don’t you?”

“I do.”

“It suits you love.”

“What?”

“That smile on your face.”

Bea returned to her office just as her mobile started ringing, seeing Allie’s name flash up on the screen.

“Hey, so, I suppose we could go out for a little while if you want to.”

“Yer, but I’d rather have you all to myself.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep,”

“Should you be even be phoning me aren’t you supposed to be working?”

“Yer, but Will said I could take a couple of minutes to call you, guess we should both get back to work.”

“I guess, I’ll pick you up when you finish.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know, I want to.”

“Ok babe, I’ll see you later.”

“You will, see you soon.”

Bea was grinning from ear to ear when she put her phone down. “Babe” she thought to herself, she kinda liked that.

Twenty minutes later Bea had had enough for the day, shutting down her computer she went through to let Franky know that they would be joining them later on, finding out where they were meeting and asking her if she minded locking up. Letting Liz know that she would see her later as she left the building.

Getting in the car she called Maxine

“Bea hun, what a wonderful surprise.”

“Hey Maxi, is the salon busy?”

“Not really, in need of a cut?”

“Na, not me, I kinda said I’d give Allie a cut and colour forever ago and it would be easier to do it at the salon if you don’t mind.”

“Course not hun, so you and Allie, everything ok?”

“Better than ok, I’ll be round after 5 that ok?”

“Sure hun, see you later.”

“See you later Maxi.”

Putting her phone away she set off for the bar. Arriving at the bar a few minutes later, heading inside and taking a seat at the bar her eyes landing on Allie straight away. Allie looked across the bar spotting Bea and instantly locking eyes with her, walking over she stopped right in front of Bea.

“Fancy seeing you here!”

“Did ya miss me?”

“Always.”

“So, remember when I said I’d give you a cut colour?”

“Vaguely, why?”

“How about after you finish here we head over to the salon?”

“Wouldn’t Maxine mind?”

“Not really, I already asked her.”

“I can hardly refuse an offer like that, you want anything?”

“Na, think I’ll just sit here and admire the view!”

Allie spotted a customer walking over to the bar and went over to serve them. A short while later she was finished for the day, saying her goodbyes to Shane and Will she walked over to Bea who was waiting by the door for her.

“So was the view to your liking?”  
  
“Hmm, definitely!”

\------------------------------

  
Maxine spotted Bea’s car pulling up outside the salon and went to the door to greet them.

“Bea, Allie, good to see you both.”

Entering the salon Bea telling Allie to go and sit down over by the basin ready for her to wash her hair.

“Either of you want a coffee?” Maxine asked smiling brightly at Allie.

“I’d love one Maxi,” Bea replied, Allie just shaking her head.

Bea walked over to where Allie was seated turning on the water and waiting until the temperature was just right, after wetting her hair she the applied shampoo massaging it into Allies scalp, she heard Allie moan and looked down at her, locking eyes with her for a few seconds, before going back to rinse the shampoo from her hair and repeating the whole process with the conditioner, turning the water off after she had finished and towel drying Allies hair, before ushering her over to another seat ready to cut her hair.

“So how much do you want me to cut off?”

  
“I’m completely in your hands, do what you like, I trust you,” Allie said with a wink as she looked at Bea in the mirror. Maxine watching the whole exchange between them with a smile on her face.

Picking up the scissors she started cutting Allie’s hair. When she had finished it was just below her shoulders, Bea looked at Allie through the mirror, their eyes meeting for a few seconds before Bea went to get the chemicals ready that she needed. 30 minutes later Allie was back over by the basin having the chemicals washed out of her hair. After drying and combing Allie’s hair she reached out for a mirror so she could show Allie what she had done.

“Do you like it?”

“Like it, I love it, you have really skilled fingers there Bea.” This caused Bea to blush, something not gone un noticed by Maxine.

“Are you two joining us at the bar later?”

“Yer, were going to stop by for a bit.”

“That’s good, we need some time to catch up.”

Bea thanked Maxine for letting her use the salon before pulling her into a hug. Grabbing Allie by the hand she led her out of the salon and to the car.

“I think I’m going to pick up a takeaway, anything you fancy?”

“Hmm, well I fancy you, are you on the menu?” Allie grinned and Bea once again blushed.

“Ok, so I’m thinking Chinese, what do you say?”

“Sounds good, but can we go to Boomers, I need some more clothes?”

“Yes, no problem, we’ll go there first and pick up the takeaway on the way back.”

Arriving at Boomers 10 minutes later, Bea saying she would wait in the car. Allie went inside and was greeted by Boomer a confused look on her face.

“Oi, I thought you had forgotten where you lived blondie!”

“Sorry, it’s just that Bea asked me to stay, think she gets a bit lonely all on her own.” Allie smiled glad she had thought of her reply quickly as she wasn’t sure how Bea would react if she told her the truth right now.

“You comin’ to the bar?”

“Yes, I just need to pick something up.”

“You going back to Bea’s?”

“Right now I am, I don’t know about later.”

  
“Ya should have just moved in with Bea, ya spend all ya time there.”

“Maybe Booms, but you asked me first.”

Allie picked up some more clothes and headed back to Boomer remembering that she needed to give her the rent money for her room. Telling Boomer she would see her in bit she left the house, getting back in the car with Bea. Picking up the takeaway they headed back to Bea’s.  
Time was getting away with them, they both knew they would be late, showering and changing as quick as they both could, before Bea called a taxi. Arriving at the bar, neither of them had noticed that Kaz’s car was in the parking lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I will have another chapter ready for tomorrow.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So again I woke up at stupid o'clock. I finished this chapter off, so here it is.

Entering the bar they were spotted by Franky immediately.

“What time do ya call this Red?”

“We’re thirty minutes late,”

“Yer, and what were ya doing in that thirty minutes to make ya late?”

“Fuck off Franky.”

Boomer spotted them next.

“Oi, ya been wasting good drinking time Bea.”

Allie had already ordered them two beers, walking over to Bea and handing her one.

“Maxine and Liz are over there, do you want to go and sit with them?”

“I think we should,”

They walked further into the bar and sat down with Liz and Maxine.

“Allie, is that really you? I love your hair.”

“Thanks Liz, Bea did it for me earlier.”

"Relly suits her doesn't it? Bea hasn't lost her touch when it comes to hair has she Liz?"

"No, might have to ask her to tackle mine next time," Liz joked.

Franky and Boomer arrived back at the table, Boomer carrying a tray full of beer and shots, placing it down on the table.

“Come on bitches, time to get ya drink on.”

Allie giggled, Liz shook her head, Maxine and Bea just rolled their eyes while Franky stood there eyeing Bea.

“Red, need a word.”

“God Franky, I’ve only just sat down, can’t it wait?”

“Na, I need to tell ya somthin’.”

Leaving the table they headed towards the bathroom, Franky entered first, scanning the room to check they were alone.

“This better be good Franky.”

“I just thought ya needed to know that Kaz is in here.”

“And!”

“She doesn’t look happy, been eyeing me up since I walked in.”

“Has she said anything to you?”

“No, but you should have seen the look on her face when you and blondie walked in, if looks could kill ya get the idea?”

“Oh come on Franky, it’s Saturday night, think you’re reading too much into it, it’s only a coincidence that she’s in the same bar.”

“Has blondie spoken to her?”

“I don’t think so, said she wasn’t ready yet.”

“Well, I just don’t like it.”

“So is that it?”

“Yer, should be getting back, Gidge should be here soon.”

Bea left the bathroom followed by Franky, walking back to the table she noticed Kaz sat over on the other side of the room, from what Bea could see she just looked like she was having a night out with friends, so she thought no more about it. Arriving back at the table just as Allie and Boomer were coming back from the bar with two more trays of drinks. Franky headed over in the direction of the door seeing Bridget had just arrived, pulling her into a hug and walking over to the bar to order her a drink before they headed back to the table.

“I hope this one is staying out of trouble Bea.”

“Hmm, more like causing it,” Bea laughed.

They all chatted quite happily for a couple of hours, Maxine watching Bea and Allie, noticing every slight touch they shared and every glance that passed between them, Bea noticed the smile on her face.

“Everything ok Maxi?”

  
“Of course hun, why wouldn’t it be?”

“I don’t know, you tell me?”

“I’m just going to use the bathroom, do ya want to leave soon?” Allie whispered in Bea’s ear.

Looking at Allie as she stood up Bea just nodded, watching Allie walk towards the bathroom, before returning her attention to everyone at the table. Allie had been gone about five minutes when Franky looked over and saw that Kaz was no longer sitting with her friends, getting Bea’s attention.

“Blondie’s takin’ her time in there, think ya should check on her don’t you?” Bea noticing that Franky’s eyes were darting over to the table where Kaz had been.

“Yer, I’ll see if she’s ok,” with that she left the table.

\------------------------------

Allie hadn’t seen Kaz in the bar, preferring to keep most of her attention on Bea. She was slowly getting bored with having to share Bea’s attention, needing to use the bathroom she really wanted to leave, hoping Bea didn’t mind the suggestion. Reaching the bathroom she was quite surprised that it was empty as the bar was getting rather busy.

Upon leaving the cubical Allie came face to face with a pissed off looking Kaz.

“So where you ever going to let me know that you’re alright?”

“Kaz, I’m really not in the mood for this right now.”

“I can see that, all loved up with her, did she even pass on my message?”

“Yes, yes she did, she told me the same day, and I’ll tell you what I told Bea, I’m not ready to talk to you right now.”

“So I’m not good enough now is that it? Remember I’m the one the cleaned you up in the first place.”

“I know that, I’m not going to forget, you saved my life, I’ll never be able to repay you for what you did for me, but can’t you understand, I need to get on with my life my own way if I’m going to stay clean?”

“Oh so she comes in to your life flutters her eyelashes and you fall at her feet?”

“It’s not like that, I’m not having this conversation with you right now.”

“What happens when she dumps you like the last one? Did you even think about that? You gonna run away again?”

“Whatever I have with Bea is none of your concern,”

“So your fuckin’ her, should have know, what the fuck are you thinking Allie, when she’s had her bit of fun with you she’ll rip your heart out and throw you away, she’s no good for you Allie, you need to come home.”

“You’re so wrong Kaz, you have no idea how wrong you are.”

“And what exactly can she give you? She’s too old for you, she’s never going to love you, she’ll fuck you then fuck you over.”

“Shut the fuck up Kaz, I’m not listening to any more of your shit.”

Neither of them knew that anyone had been listening at the door until they heard it close with a loud bang. Allie rushed out of the bathroom back to the table, looking desperately at Franky when she saw Bea wasn’t there.

“Where’s Bea Franky?”

“You two had a row?”

“No Franky we haven’t, where the hell is she?”

“Headed for the door last I saw of her.”

“Fucking Kaz .” She thought to herself as she almost ran outside looking for Bea, finding her crouched down back to wall of the bar, her head in her hands sobbing. Allie stopped in her tracks, her heart feeling as if was going to shatter into a hundred pieces seeing Bea like that. Slowly she walked up to her.

“Bea.”

No response except for the ever present sobbing. Crouching down in front of her she placed her hands on her shoulders.

“Bea, please talk to me?”

“What’s the point?”

“The point is that I want you in my life, none of what Kaz said is true, you know that right? She’s pissed off at me for not running back to her, and I guess you heard most of what she said?”

“She’s right Allie, I am no good for you, I’m a mess, I’ll only hurt you when I can’t give you what you need, you should go home.”

“I can’t do that, you see I want to be with you, and if you’re a mess what does that make me? I was always a mess until you found me, but if you like we can go home and be a mess together.”

Bea’s sobs turned into a sniffle, and she let out a small giggle. Removing her hands from her face to look at Allie. She stood up, taking Bea’s hands in hers and pulled her up before wrapping her arms around her waist, Bea wrapping her arms around Allie’s shoulders, their foreheads pressed together looking into each other’s eyes. Allie was the first to break the silence that had fallen between them.

  
“I don’t care what she says, I know it’s not true, she doesn’t know you. I doubt she ever really got to know me.”

“No? But I’m still a mess.”

“And I told you I don’t care, with you is where I want to be, now you wait here I’ll go and get my bag and let the others know we’re leaving, ok?”

“Yes,” Bea said barely above a whisper. “I’ll call a taxi.”

Allie apologised to the others saying Bea wasn’t feeling well, not wanting to tell them the truth for know, even though she knew Franky wouldn't let it go in a hurry, but that was for another day, letting them know that they were leaving and returned back to Bea, the taxi arriving a couple of minutes later.

When they arrived at Bea’s they were both tired and headed straight for bed, Bea was exhausted from crying, she cuddled up to Allie and fell asleep, Allie couldn’t sleep, she wanted to kill Kaz, she had no right trying to tell her what to do, and how dare she say what she had about Bea, she knew nothing about her. She pulled Bea in closer, “I love you,” Allie whispered before sleep finally claimed her.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Kaz thinks she's got what she wanted she's wrong, so wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once I started writing this chapter I found I couldn't stop, so this is early even for me.

Bea was the first to wake the next morning, as was usually the case, the feel of Allie wrapped around her taking any thoughts of the previous night before they even had a chance to enter her head. She lay there no desire to move, watching Allie sleep, listening to her breath. She was very aware how much she craved waking up like this when Allie hadn’t stayed. Kaz’s words suddenly entering her thoughts. “No,” she thought to herself, she’s wrong, she knew that, Allie wasn’t just a bit of fun, and the more she thought about it the more she realised that she wanted Allie there all the time. She snuggled up to Allie her hand finding its way under Allie’s shirt, fingers resting against the soft skin on her back, her thumb tracing small circles. She was so caught up with the feel of Allie’s skin against her hand that she hadn’t noticed she had woken up. Allie lay there for a minute enjoying the feeling of being so close to Bea, and her hand on her back.

“Good morning babe.”

Bea’s smile grew when she heard that, moving her head a little so that she could look into Allie’s eyes.

“Morning.”

“What’s got you smiling like that this morning?”

“You.”

“What have I done?”

“Nothing much, you don’t have to do anything.”

“We don’t have to get up yet do we?”

  
“No, why do you ask?”

“Cos I just want to lay here with you.”

“Yes? Good thing that’s what I want to do to.”

They lay there in silence together, neither of them needing to say anything, just enjoying the feeling of being so close to each other.

Allie finally had to give in to the need to kiss Bea, planting a soft kiss against her lips.

“What was that for?”

“Does there need to be a reason?”

Beas hand traveled further up Allie’s back, dragging her nails lightly over the soft skin, her other hand finding its way to the back of her neck pulling her in closer, their lips ghosting over each other’s until Bea couldn’t resist anymore pulling her in closer and planting a soft kiss on her lips, soft kisses became way more urgent and deeper with more passion behind them that either of them had ever experienced before. Allie managing to flip them over so that she was straddling Bea. Breaking the kiss when the need for air became too much for them both. Allie looked deep into the deep brown eyes that she loved seeing her own desire being reflected back at her. Bea, suddenly experiencing an unexpected burst of confidence flipped them over, laying herself on top of Allie kissing her with just as much passion as before. Neither of them could stop, didn’t want to, as they kissed and roamed their hands over each other’s bodies as much as their current position would allow. Beas left hand some how managed to find its way between them and found its way to Allie’s breast, she took herself a little by surprise but realising where her hand was it felt right and she couldn’t stop herself from massaging it a little, feeling the nipple become erect under her touch, she felt her heart rate increase, the butterflies were back in her stomach and a heat was ignited in her core, “fuck,” she thought, she knew what she wanted, but was too scared to admit it, she hadn’t even realised that Allies hand had also found its way between them and under Bea’s shirt mirroring the exact same actions. Allie turned her head slightly breaking the kiss, breathlessly saying “we need to stop.”

Bea’s attention turned to Allie’s neck, kissing it softly and slowly until she reached her pulse point, gently nipping at it.

“Bea, as much as I’m enjoying this, and believe me I really am, we need to stop before we take this too far and we do something you’ll end up regretting and hating me for.”

Bea knew she was right, she stopped kissing her neck and rolled off Allie laying beside her on her back.

“I’m sorry Allie, I don’t know what came over me?”

“You don’t have to be sorry Bea, I just want you to be totally comfortable before we go too far,”

“How can you be so patient with me?”

Allie knew she had already fallen for her, she had been glad Bea fell asleep the night before because she knew that if Bea had heard what she had admitted last night she would have freaked out. She didn’t want to scare her away.

“I care about your feelings babe, I just want, no, I need you to be sure that what we do you are totally comfortable with. I would never want to do anything that you don’t want to do, you mean more to me than that.”

Bea didn’t know how to answer that, it felt so overwhelming to her that Allie could care so much about her feelings, that Allie wasn’t trying to pressure her into doing anything that she knew she wasn’t ready for, in that second she knew she wanted everything with Allie, she was just unsure how long it would take her to be really comfortable, would Allie get bored waiting for her to get over her own insecurities and just walk away. She shook her head trying to empty her thoughts, turning over and snuggling up to Allie.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For just being you.”

“No Bea, I should be thanking you for allowing me to be here with you like this.”

\------------------------------

After spending another hour laying in bed cuddling, talking and stealing kisses they had both gotten up, showered, dressed and had had breakfast.  
Sitting at the kitchen together a comfortable silence had fallen between them, until Bea spoke.

“I really need to go shopping.”

“Want me to tag along?”

“Food shopping not too boring for you?”

“Not at all, or I can just go and leave you to it if you’d prefer.”

“Course I don’t want you to go.”

Bea didn’t know, and Allie wasn’t about to say, but she loved doing everything with Bea, she really couldn’t care less if they were doing something as simple as a grocery shop or washing the dishes, she wanted to do everything with her, share everything with her.

“I will have to go home later though, Boomers getting a little pissed at me.”

“Has she said so?”

“Well not in so many words, although she said I should have just moved in with you,” Allie giggled.

“She did?”

  
“Yer, but I am supposed to be living there and I’ve spent more time here with you, I told her you just get a bit lonely with Debbie away, she seemed to buy it.”

“God, I never even gave Booms a second thought, I don’t want things to be uncomfortable for you at home.”

“Don’t worry about it, she’s probably forgotten what she said yesterday by now.”

“What shift are you working next week?”

“2pm till 10pm, week after Will asked if I’d be alright doing 3pm till lock up.”

“I reckon Will likes you if he’s ready to let you help lock up.”

“Yer?”

“He’s not normally so quick to trust new staff, but he has been let down a couple of times in the past.”

“He has mentioned that.”

“So shall we go and get the shopping done?”

“Anything you want to do is fine with me.”

\-------------------------------

After the grocery shopping they went back to Bea’s deciding that a sandwich was all either of them wanted for lunch.

They sat on the sofa watching tv for a short while when Bea’s phone rang, seeing Franky’s name, Bea didn’t really want to answer but knew that if she didn’t she would just keep calling, and turning her phone off would only result in her turning up on her doorstep.

“Franky, what’s up?”

“Nothin’ much, just wondering what the fuck was up your arse last night, running out of the bar like that.”

“Franky, I’m not talking about this over the phone.”

Allie looked at Bea a look of concern on her face.

“Ok, I’m coming round then.”

“If I tell you not to bother will that stop you?”

“Na, I’m guessing it’s got something to do with Kaz and blondie, is she there?”

“Yer, why?”

“Cos I’m not havin’ it, not havin’ anyone causin’ you trouble, ya don’t need anymore of that shit after that wanker you were married to.”

“Franky!”

“Na, I’m leavin’ now, see you soon.”

Franky hung up not giving Bea a chance to say anything.

“Fuck.”

“Bea, what’s a matter?”

“Just Franky, seems to think I’m getting into trouble.”

“And that’s because of me isn’t it? I’m just going to go, might see you around.”

“Allie, no, I don’t want you to go.”

“Fucking Kaz started this, should have known she would cause trouble, she’s great at sticking her nose in when it’s not needed. Now Franky’s going to give me a hard time.”

Allie just ran out of the door, Bea just stood there, her brain hadn’t registered that she’d gone until she ran out of the house, Allie was nowhere to be seen. She turned round feeling empty, she’d gone and she had no idea where, and now she was going to have to face Franky and her attitude. She just wanted to curl back up in bed and cry, she wanted Allie and now she was sure she had lost her, it hurt, she couldn’t believe how much it hurt. She sat on the sofa lost in her thoughts tears streaming down her face until she heard a loud knocking on the door. Getting up, she knew who it was.

“Red, what the fuck, what’s happened?”

“Allie,….she….she’s……gone!” Was all she could get out between sobs.

Franky closed the door pulling Bea over to the sofa, sitting her down and hugging her until she finally stopped crying.

“What happened?”

“Franky, it wasn’t Allie, she hasn’t done anything, you believe that don’t you?”

“Bea, I want to, I really do, but look at the state you’re in, what happened last night?”

Bea told Franky everything that she overheard Kaz saying to Allie the night before, and almost everything that Allie had done and said to her, both last night and that morning, she left out the making out part, she didn’t need Franky's teasing. Franky sat there quietly listening until Bea had finished.

“So the fuck nut who got you to find her doesn’t think you’re good enough for her?”

Bea nodded.

“Have you phoned Booms? She could have gone home.”

“No,” she said quietly.

Franky got her phone from her pocket and called Boomer.

“Hey Franky,”

“Booms, how’s the head?”

“Don’t ask,”

“Is blondie there?”

“Na, thought she was at Bea’s.”

“Booms, if she comes back give me call, yer.”

“Huh, yer, no worries Franky.” Boomer hung up.

“Bea, it’ll be alright, trust me, she’ll turn up?”

“What if she back out there on the streets? I’ve got find her Franky, I can’t lose her.”

“Well fuck, you really have fallen for her haven’t ya?”

“I’ve got to go, I’ve got to find her.”

“Hold on, fucks sake, you need to stay here, calm down will ya, Booms is going to let me know when she turns up.”

“And what if she doesn’t?”

“Bea, listen to me, if she hasn’t shown up by tomorrow morning, I promise you we’ll look for her, I’ll help you search every inch of this city, but right now we need to wait, she could have just gone somewhere to clear her head, she wouldn’t just walk away from you like that.”

“And how would you know?”

“I’m telling ya, I know, she looks at you like you’re the most precious thing on this fucking planet, ya don’t even see it do you? She fucking loves you, are you really that blind?”

Bea couldn’t even think straight after hearing what Franky had just said. How could Allie love her? They hadn’t known each other that long, Franky had to be wrong. She’d go along with Franky for now, but if she didn’t turn up by the morning she wouldn’t even sleep until she found her.

\------------------------------

Allie, had run out of the door, she had no idea where she was headed until she found herself in a park, she sat down on a bench, Kaz had caused this, Franky would lay into her, but worst still, she was going to lose Bea, all because Kaz thought she knew what was best for Allie. No Kaz wasn’t going to do this to her, she wasn’t going to let her ruin the best thing that had ever happened to her. She loved Bea, “fuck Kaz,” she thought to herself. Getting up from the bench, she knew what she was going to do.

Arriving outside Kaz’s house, she knew she was home her car was parked on the drive. She burst in and saw Kaz sitting on the sofa, seeing Allie she stood up,

“Oh, so you’ve come back, she kicked you out?” Kaz was sniggering.

That was it, Allie lost it, lunging towards Kaz her fist connected with her face, splitting her lip.

“You bitch, you think you can control me? Well I’m done.”

“Oh yer, and where are you going to go princess now she’s thrown you out?”

Allie’s fist connected with her face again, this time right in the eye.

“She hasn’t thrown me out no thanks to you, I walked out. But trust me I’m going back and even if I have to get down on my hands and knees and beg her to listen to me I will because I love her.”

Kaz, sitting on the floor just laughed.

“Yer, course you love her, what like the way you think she’s going to love you? Fuck sake Allie she’ll never love you.”

“You don’t know her.”

“And you think you do?”

“No, I don’t need to think I do, I do know her, better than I’ve ever known anyone my whole life. I never want to see or speak to you again.”

Allie turned round walked back out the door slamming it behind her. Bea was the only thing she had on her mind, she felt better after punching Kaz, but Bea was her priority, and that’s exactly where he was going, back to Bea, if she would still have her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be working on the next chapter, if I write as quick as I did with this one expect to be reading it today.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I got carried away writing today, here's another chapter for you.

After another 40 minutes of sobbing uncontrollably Franky finally managed to convince Bea that she should go and lie down, but only if Franky sat with her though.  
After she fell asleep Franky headed back to the kitchen she needed coffee. She couldn’t believe that Allie would just leave like that, it made no sense. Sitting at the kitchen table with her coffee she wondered where Allie would go, she hadn’t gone to Boomers, would she go to Kaz’s, she couldn’t see that not since she had started all this crap. Will’s bar she thought, getting her mobile from her pocket and calling the bar, eventually getting Will on the line telling her that she hadn’t been in, but if she did he would call Franky back. She felt like kicking Allie’s arse right now, she hadn’t seen Bea like this since Harry, but Allie wasn’t Harry, no Allie actually put a sickeningly huge smile on her face. “Fuck sake blondie, where the fuck are you?” She said under her breath. At the same moment she thought she heard a light tapping on the front door, getting up from the chair she wondered through the lounge towards the front door, this time knowing for sure that she heard a knock. Opening the door Allie stood there, head bowed looking at her feet.

“Fuck sake blondie where have you been?”

“I…I…had…had to sort…it out!” She sobbed.

“Jesus, get your arse in here already will ya!”

She slowly walked in, not wanting to make eye contact with Franky.

“Right, sit down and tell me what the fuck is going on, I know what Kaz said last night, Bea already told me, and from what she said you sounded like you had sorted it out so why the fuck did you just run out of here?”

“I…I thought you were going to have a go at me.”

“Well I might have if you had been here.”

“I’ve sorted it.”

“Not with Bea you haven’t, but now I’m interested what have ya done?” She grinned.

“When I left I just walked around for a bit, I ended up in the park. I had so much going on in my head.”

“And?”

“Well I went round to Kaz’s, she...she was a smug bitch, so I punched her, twice!”

“Fuck, hope you got a good punch in.”

“Yer, split her lip, and she’s going to have a black eye.”

“Shit, remind me not to get on the wrong side of you.”

“Where’s Bea?”

“Upstairs, she’s asleep, maybe you should go up, but don’t blame me if she goes mad at you when she wakes up.”

“Are you staying?”

“Think I might hang around for a bit, just in case you need me, now get up there, get this sorted out or I will kick your arse.”

Allie nervously made her way up the stairs, opening the bedroom door slowly, peeking round the door seeing Bea fast asleep. She crept into the bedroom, silently closing the door behind her and walking over to the bed. She really just wanted to take her in her arms, hold her and never let go. But she thought better of that opting to just sit on the edge of the bed. She felt the tears building in her eyes and she couldn’t stop them from falling. She sobbed into her hands not realising that Bea had woken up.

“I’m so sorry Bea, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I would never do that. I couldn’t do that. All that shit that Kaz said, it’s not true, I hate her, I’m never going to see her again, if she died tomorrow I wouldn’t care, I only care about you, I only want to be with you. I’ve stuffed it all up, didn’t I tell you I’m a fuck up? I fuck everything up, and now you hate me, and when you wake up you’re going to kick me out, and then….I’ll have lost the only person I’ve ever loved, will ever love.” She lay back on the bed on her side pulling her knees up to her chest wrapping her arms around them hugging them to her chest and couldn’t stop the tears even if she tried.  
Bea had heard every word, when she heard Allie say she loved her she’d had to put her hand to her mouth to stop the sob. She couldn’t stand it anymore hearing Allie cry. Rolling over she put her arm over he pulling her to her.

“Allie, baby, please don’t cry, I don’t hate you, please, talk to me.”

“Bea!” Was all Allie could manage to say she was crying so hard.

Bea sat up, managing to pull Allie up into her arms, holding her tightly.

“Allie, please don’t cry.”

“B…but…you…don’t… want…me…now.”she spluttered out between sobs.

“Allie, I was scared, you ran out of here and I didn’t know where you where, I’m not mad at you. I was so scared that you wouldn’t come back, Franky made me stay here, and all I wanted to do was look for you, I’m so glad she made me stay here, you’re back that’s all that matters.”

Allie started to calm down.

“You’re not mad at me?” She sniffled.

“No, how could I be mad at you? Where did you go?”

“I went to Kaz’s.”

“I suppose she ran her mouth again.”

“She did a bit, I punched her….twice.”

“You did what?”

“I punched her, split her lip and she’s going to have a a bloody good black eye.”

“Why did you do that?”

“She ran her mouth saying I was only there because you had thrown me out. And because,…..well it doesn’t matter, I just punched her.”

“I heard what you said.”

“What? When?”

“When you were talking, I heard what you said.”

“I…I…shouldn’t have said it?”

“Why?”

“Do you want me to go?”

“No, I don’t want you to go, in fact I never want you to go.”

“I’d stay here forever if you’d let me.”

“Maybe you can, if you tell me one thing.”

“What? Anything?”

“Did you mean what you said?”

“I…I….err…yes…..I love you…I told Kaz that, she laughed at me…so go on you can laugh at me now!”

“I’m not going to laugh at you. Allie I can’t pretend that I’m not confused about how I feel, I am, but I do know that I can’t stop thinking about you all the time, that I can’t sleep when you aren’t here, I hate waking up without you in my arms, so I guess, and I should have done this before, why I ever thought you living with Booms was a good idea I don’t know…..”

“Bea, babe, your rambling.”

“Sorry, so, I guess, well….I’m trying to ask you stay.”

“What? You mean stay here with you, like, move in?”

“Yes, I should have asked you to the first night you stayed here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, if you don’t your only going to spend more time here than you do at Boomers, and god I think she’s confused enough already, more confused than me even.” Bea giggled.

“Well in that case, I think I need to go and get my stuff and tell Boomer I’m moving out don’t you?”

Bea nodded her head and laughed.

“Shit, you know Franky’s still downstairs, what’s she going to say?”

“Probably something highly inappropriate, but nothing we can’t handle…together.”

“If you say so, I think she can be a little scary.”

“Franky, Na, she’s a pussy cat really, although she probably could scare Kaz if she gets out of line again, so are ya ready to face big bad Franky?”

“Err, maybe, if you go first.”

They left the bedroom, Allie hanging back a little, not really sure what to expect.

“Sup Red, have you two sorted things out, or do I actually have to kick blondies arse?”

“Everything’s fine, it always was, Allie thought you were going to have a go at her, did she tell ya what she did to Kaz?”

“Oh yer, I would have paid to have seen that, always thought there was something a bit off with her, especially that day she dropped blondies stuff off at the office.”

“What do you mean?”

“Not sure, she just seemed off, like, oh fuck I don’t know, can’t put my finger on it.”

“Franky will you do me a big favour?”

“Oh yer, like what? Need some bedroom advice?”

“Fuck off Franky.”

Franky shrugged seeing that Allie was laughing.

“Ok what’s the favour?”

“Will you take Allie over to Boomers, she needs to pick her stuff up, and tell a Booms she’s moving out.”

Franky looked puzzled.

“Where’s she going now?”

“She isn’t going anywhere!”

“Err, what? Oh…ooh, I get it, fuck Red, why didn’t you just move her in in the first place?”

“Piss off….I just didn’t think of it then.”

“And ya don’t want to answer Boomers questions do ya? Na, we’ll leave that to the expert…..ME!”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself Franky will ya do it or not?”

“Sure, sure, I’ll just tell Booms ya shacking up together so ya can get ya fuck on.”

“Allie will you just get her out of here please, or I may have to hurt her.”

“I think we better go Franky,” Allie giggled.

Franky got up from the sofa and walked towards the door.

“Come on then princess, better do what queen Bea says.”

Bea just stood there shaking her head.

Allie and Franky walked in on a very confused looking Boomer.

“Thought you said I had to phone ya when blondie came home, ya didn’t say ya were bringing her home.”

Allie looked between Franky and Boomer, raising her hands and shaking her head.

“I’m just going to pack.”

“Err, what’s she on about….pack? She only just moved in.”

“Well, Booms, blondies moving in with Bea, yer.”

“But she lives…….hang on…Allie and Bea? Na Bea ain’t no lezza, no offence Franky, but she ain’t.”

“Booms…..Bea’s just jumped on board the big gay bus!”

“But Bea ain’t gay!”

Franky sat there nodding her head, Boomer just sat there looking confused. Not long later Allie appeared with her bags.

“Got everything?”

“Yer, didn’t have that much to start with.”

“Allie, you never said you’re a lezza.”

“Booms, ya never asked.”

“So, you and Bea?”

“Yes Booms.”

“Ok…..hey we’re still mates right?”

“Yes Booms, mates.”

“Cool, ya better go then, have ya ever seen Bea get mad? Not Pretty!”

“I’ll keep that in mind Booms.”

“Better get you back to queen Bea then, Booms not exaggerating, a mad Bea is not a pretty sight.”

\------------------------------

  
“You are sure that this is what you want aren’t you?”

“Allie, I’m completely sure, I just need to work everything out.”

“I can always stay in the spare room.”

“No Allie, you aren’t, have you forgotten already what I said to you?”

“No, no I haven’t but…..well I can get a bit carried away, you know that already.”

“As I recall it was me who got carried away this morning, you stopped.”

“Yes, but what if I don’t next time?”

“I don’t know, maybe next time I really won’t want you to anyway!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As tomorrow is Wednesday I will be a little busy so I might manage one update, and Friday is looking like a nightmare for me, so I will apologise in advance if I end up missing a day, although it would give me more time to think where I want to take this, I tend to write on the fly. But if any of you have any suggestions don't be shy to share.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I was going to make this shorter, except Bea and Allie got a little distracted by each other and I had to keep writing it.

A week had passed and no one had heard from or seen Kaz, something Allie was pleased about, Bea had been expecting her to turn up at the office at some point, but it had been relatively quiet. Of course Franky had been taking the piss out of The whole Bea and Allie living together situation, throwing around more than a few inappropriate comments, one day when there was a new client waiting to see Bea. But Bea had shrugged most of it off, even managing to turn the tables on her more than once, something Liz found hilarious.

Another Monday morning had arrived much to Bea’s disappointment, almost throwing the alarm clock across the bedroom, Allie found it amusing, while Bea had gotten out of bed in a huff and gone for a shower. Allie just went downstairs to make a start on breakfast leaving Bea to calm down.

Unfortunately Bea had gone downstairs seemingly still in a bad mood, Allie was worried about her, she’d tried to get her to tell her what was wrong resulting in Bea snapping and Allie, she’d just sighed and left her to it going for a shower, by the time she’d showered and dressed, Bea had left for work leaving a very frustrated Allie behind, but she had decided that she would just leave it for now, she was going to get to the bottom of her mood one way or another. But Allie wouldn’t be home all week until after midnight because she was helping to lock up and she only had Sunday off. Sunday was always the quietest day at Wills bar, and as Bea was off that day Will had agreed that Allie could stick with Sunday’s off, for the time being.

Bea was still in a mood when she walked into the office, relieved that only Liz was there.

“Everything alright love?”

“Mmmm.” Was the only answer from Bea before walking into her office.

Liz was becoming more concerned, Bea had always opened up to her in the past, but for the previous three days she had been in a mood, she’d hoped that by this morning she would have worked through what ever was bothering her, now she knew That hadn't happened.

“Morning Liz, Red in?” Said Franky as she breezed through the door.

“Good morning Franky, and yes she’s in, still in a mood though!”

“Fuck sake, she hasn’t said anything?”

“No love, can’t you have a word?”

“Let me have a coffee first, but, I can’t promise I’ll be of much use, she threw me out of her office on Saturday.”

“Yes, I remember love, but this can’t go on, she’ll scare new clients away.”

Franky got herself a coffee and sat in one of the chairs resting her chin on her hand. Bea stomped out of her office and poured herself a coffee looking over at Franky.

“Don’t you have any work to do Franky?” Bea spat before stomping back to her office slamming the door behind her.

Franky looked at Liz, Liz just shook her head.

“Oh no, she did not just bite my head off like that for nothing, screw this! Wish me luck I’m going in, ya might want to get ready to call an ambulance, and I mean for me.”

Franky walked over to Bea’s office door, pausing and inhaling deeply before opening the door.

Sitting down in one of the chairs across the desk from Bea waiting for her to start ranting and raving at her, but it didn’t happen. Bea looked up from what she was trying to read and sighed.

“Go on then, tell me I’m acting like a spoilt brat.”

“Na, wasn’t going to say that, but I am worried about ya.”

“I’m fine Franky.”

“Clearly you aren’t, so spill.”

“It’s just…well the whole Kaz thing, I can’t help but think that she’s up to something.”

“Has she tried contacting blondie?”

“No, but I don’t think she’s going to take Allie punching her lightly do you?”

“She could have just realised that she needs to let blondie live her own life.”

“I don’t buy it.”

“Have ya talked to blondie about this?”

“And say what?”

“Red if we’ve noticed that your not yourself she will have to.”

“I was a mardy arse this morning, I left the house before she even finished in the shower.”

“Fuck sake Red, ya trying to scare her off before you let her in ya pants.”

“Franky! You always have to spoil it.”

“I think you should go home and talk to her, she’s not working till later right?”

“Yer, she doesn’t start till 3.”

“So take ya sorry arse home and talk to her.”

Bea sat thinking for a minute,

“Ok, your right, I shouldn’t be taking it out on you, or any one.”

\-------------------------------

Allie was trying to watch tv, but she couldn’t stop worrying about Bea, she thought that maybe she had done or said something wrong, but she really couldn’t think of anything, she’d be fine with her until that morning. She didn’t seem to have any cases that were bothering her, she’d said that most of the work they were doing at the moment was mainly tracing people and most of that was online. She couldn’t think of anything, she was so deep in thought that she hadn’t heard the door open and Bea walk in. Bea stood and looked at her, she looked so beautiful, she was a million miles away and Bea couldn’t resist walking up behind the sofa bending forward and kissing her on the cheek.

Allie jumped snapping her head round her lips ghosting over Beas.

“Babe, don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“What are you doing home?”

“Oh ya know, I wanted to see you.”

“Really, you didn’t earlier.”

“About that, I need to talk to you.”

Allie patted the sofa beside her gesturing for her to sit beside her. Bea walked round the sofa and sat down beside her sliding her arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer, Allies head resting on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry about this morning, I shouldn’t have taken my bad mood out on you, I really didn’t mean to.”

“So talk to me, I’m here for you, I’ll always be here for you.”

  
“You say that but…..”

“There are no buts Bea, I mean it, no one will ever make me change my mind about you, I told you already, I love you.”

“I know, and I’m sorry that I just seem so totally unable to get over myself, it’s not that I don’t know how I feel……I’m….I’m scared.”

“Of me?”

“What! No, no….that I’ll lose you……I can’t help it, it’s this whole Kaz thing, she asked for help finding you and I was happy to do that, then I found you…..and well, she didn’t seem happy when I didn’t drag you back to her, and I couldn’t, wouldn’t make you do what you didn’t want to do. Then that night at the bar, thank god it wasn’t Wills bar, when I heard what she said I thought you were going to punch her then, but I got scared that she’d talk you into going back with her and I ran, I heard everything, she’s not going to let you go.”

“I’m not going anywhere, I’m right where I want to be, she’ll never change my mind, especially after the things she said, you aren’t going to lose me, you could throw me out right now and I would sit out there on your doorstep until you changed your mind, I might have to beg and grovel at your feet a little, wouldn’t hurt would it? But I wouldn’t leave.”

“I can’t help it, I think she, well she seems to think that you belong to her, maybe she’s just over protective I don’t know, I just don’t understand why she can’t just let you be happy and be happy for you.”

“I doubt Kaz will ever be happy, when she was younger, well let’s just say she had some bad experiences, the stuff you have no control over because your too young, and she’s become a little bitter, almost certainly twisted, she needs to feel in control.”

“Even if that means hurting other people?”

“She’s not above hurting people, but she won’t hurt me, or you because I won’t let her.”

“I just feel like she’s going to do something, something I won’t see coming, something I can’t stop or lose control over the situation, I felt helpless with Harry, I didn’t know what to do, couldn’t get out of the situation I was in, it just feels like she knows how to wind me up, like she knows what Harry put me through and she’s playing the same games he did, if that makes any sense to you.”

“But how would she know?”

“Harry’s trial was in the newspaper, there wasn’t a great deal mentioned, and mine and Debbie’s names were never printed, but it’s still out there, I’ve come across it myself, I doubt you’d need to be a genius to link me with him.”

Allie giggled.

“Sorry I’m not laughing at what you said, I take that very seriously, it’s just, well Kaz certainly isn’t a genius, manipulative, bitter, twisted and a total bitch yes, genius defiantly not.”

“So you do get what I’m trying to say?”

“Yes I do, but she can’t get me to leave you by telling me what happened to you, you beat her to it remember, I didn’t leave then did I?”

“See, my head is all over the place, I don’t even know what I’m thinking half the time.”

“Are you going back to work?”

“Not much point really is there, why?”

“I might be able to help take your mind off things before I have to go to work.”

“Oh yer, and how you going to do that?”

“Oh I have my ways ya know, now you sit back right where you are and let me show you.”

Allie got up from where she had been sitting and straddled Bea, placing her hands on her shoulders before placing a long lingering kiss on her lips.

“Do you think that might help?”

“Maybe, if you keep doing it, how long before you have to get ready for work?”

“Couple of hours,” Allie winked at her.

“Oh well in that case you better come here then.”

Allie kissed her again, one of Beas hands found its way to the back of her neck, pulling her in closer and deepening the kiss, the other found its way round to her back, pulling her shirt loose from her jeans and up her back running her fingers up and down her spine, Allie couldn’t stop herself from moaning. When the need to breath became to much they rested their foreheads together.

“Fuck Bea what are you trying to do to me?”

“You don’t like it?”

“Are you kidding?”

Bea pulled her back into the kiss running the hand that had been on her neck gently down her arm, stopping at the hem of her shirt, running the other down her back and reaching the hem of her shirt started tugging it up, Allie broke the kiss and looked her in the eye.

“I need this off!”

Allie raised her arms allowing a Bea to pull it up and off.

“This really isn’t fair you know.”

“So do something about it.”

Allie looked into Beas eyes trying to see the uncertainty that she expected to see but there was none. She reached for the hem of Beas shirt and tugged it out of her trousers before unbuttoning it and sliding it down her arms. Allie placed a soft kiss on her lips before turning her attention to her neck, kissing slowly down her neck as Bea tilted her head to allow her better access, stopping at her pulse point lightly sucking on it drawing a light moan from Bea before kissing her way across her collar bone, down her chest to her left breast, kissing it through the soft material of her bra. Allie was totally oblivious to the fact that Bea had reached around her and unclasped her bra dragging it softly down her arms, Allie lent slightly backwards before removing it completely. Bea couldn’t take her eyes off Allie who just giggled,

“Enjoying the view?”

All Bea could do was nod, not trusting her voice, scooting slightly forward on the sofa, she scooped Allie up laying her back on the sofa before straddling her. She couldn’t stop her eyes from raking over Allies half naked body before slowly lowering herself over Allie, kissing her on the lips before turning her attention to her neck, kissing down to her pulse point nipping and sucking on it, Allie moaned Beas name. Allie was so turned on she wasn’t sure if she would be able to stop where she knew this was headed, but she was curious to see how far Bea would go. Bea felt like her entire body was on fire, every touch, every kiss no matter how light or fleeting sending a jolt to her core, it was something that was so unfamiliar to her, but at the same time very pleasurable and she wanted more, feeling the wetness between her legs made her wonder if Allie was feeling the same or just playing along with her. “Stop thinking about it,” she told herself, as she kissed along Allies collar bone and down to her right breast and sucking the already erect nipple into her mouth.

“Bea babe, as much as I really want this, and god do I want this we have to stop.”

Bea looked up at Allie, the desire in her eyes totally unmissable.

“You want to stop?”

“Babe we have to, I need a shower and to get ready for work, trust me if I didn’t have to go to work I would be taking you to bed any second now.”

Bea stood up, retrieving her shirt that was still on the sofa and putting it back on before picking Allies up from the floor and handing it to her. Bea stood looking at the floor feeling more than a little embarrassed,

“Sorry.”

“Bea, look at me, you have nothing to be sorry about, I want everything with you, but only if you feel ready.”

Bea looked her in the eyes, not sure that she could even tell Allie what she felt or what she wanted, instead she just turned, sat down and groaned.

“I do have to go to work.”

“I know, I’ll drop you off,”

“You don’t have to.”

“No, but I want to, and I’ll pick you up tonight.”

“No need, not tonight at least, Will said he was going to stay over and go over everything with me and he said he’d bring me home, you don’t mind do you? I don’t see the point in dragging you out if you don’t have to.”

“Course I don’t mind, you better go and get ready then, can’t promise I won’t drag you back to the sofa if you stay here.”

Allie had just started walking up the stairs as Bea said that, stopping and looking over her shoulder at Bea she winked, “later babe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am starting the next chapter, I might get it posted today.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter, but I got disturbed by the phone and really lost my train of thought.

“Later babe,” that was all Bea kept hearing on repeat in her head all afternoon, she’d been trying to shrug those words off, but she couldn’t help thinking about what almost happened on the sofa, “god, the sofa of all places,” chastising herself. Trying to keep herself busy she’d cleaned the house from top to bottom, changed the bedding and gone to the supermarket, something she should have done the day before but Allie hadn’t wanted to go and Bea hadn’t wanted to leave her alone even though she knew Kaz didn’t know where she lived. Finally she sat on the sofa, grabbing her sketch book trying to concentrate on the drawing she had been trying to finish for the last few days. Hearing a knock on the door set her heart racing, “calm down idiot,” she said to herself dropping her sketch book back onto the coffee table, hearing the knock again and then Franky, “come on Red, I’ll be an old woman before you get here!”

Opening the door Franky didn’t wait to be invited in and barged passed her.

“Nice to see you to Franky, do you need something?”

“Just a chat.”

“About? Enlighten me!”

“Did you and blondie talk, or are you still in a bad mood? Like am I going to need to start coming to work in body armour or is it safe?”

“Fuck off Franky, and yes we talked.”

“So! Am I allowed to ask?”

“Sit down will ya, want a coffee?”

“Stop changing the subject.”

“I’m not I’m asking if you want a coffee.”

“Oh, ok yer I’ll have a coffee.” Taking a seat on the sofa she waited for Bea to return.

Bea handed her a mug and sat down in the chair across from Franky.

“Am I going to have to drag it out of ya?”

“Na, it’s just all this crap with Kaz, I just expect her to turn up and make things worse.”

“And what did blondie say?”

“Allie, thinks she’s bitter, twisted and a bitch!”

“Well she should know.”

“So ya feeling better. Judging by that grin on ya face I’d say you did more than talk.”

“Fuck off Franky, I’m telling you nothing.”

“Oh, now you’ve really got me interested, was it more than kissing?”

“Yes.”

“Hmmm, so, let me think, there’s no way it involved taking anything off.”

Bea was blushing the same colour as her hair and Franky couldn’t miss that.

“Don’t tell me you got her top off? Ya did didn’t ya? But the bra, Na that’ll never happen!”

Bea just nodded.

“Fuck Red, what did you stop for?”

“Allie had to go to work, now can we drop this?”

“You need to stop thinking so much, you overthink everything, if your in the moment and it feels right, then, ya know, just go with it, if she’s put up with just lettin’ ya cop a feel I’m sure she can put up with ya tellin’ her to stop if you don’t like it.”

“Franky, please, did you actually want anything?”

“Oh yer, Gidge sent me to get ya!”

“What for?”

“She said your coming over for dinner even if you say no as your on your own.”

“And if I refuse.”

“Not an option, come on Bea, you want to see me in the dog house if I go back without ya?”

“Oh well, when you put it like that…..I’m just fine home alone.”

  
“Bea, please, ya know I love you, I’m just teasing you, I meant it though, just go with it, now please.”

“Are you going to keep teasing me all night?”

“No, honest, scouts honour, I’ll behave.”

“Can’t refuse then can I?”

\------------------------------

  
Bea had actually enjoyed getting out of the house, Franky had tried hard not to tease her and she’d only slipped up twice earning her a stern look from Bridget. The evening had been good but Bea had missed Allie and Bridget had spotted that while they were eating, after dinner Franky had retreated to the kitchen to tackle the dishes almost throwing Bea out when she wanted to help, but Bridget had told her to leave it to Franky and have another glass of wine with her. She’d given in, if she knew anything she knew that Bridget wouldn’t tease her, and even though she didn’t know her all that well she could sit and chat with Bridget.

“Not the same is it?”

“I’m sorry, what isn’t?”

“Being out on your own when you get used to being with someone, I’m the same when I’m not with Franky.”

“It feels strange, missing someone other than Debbie, I honestly never though I would have anyone to miss.”

“I’m sorry Bea, you know I’m not going to start asking awkward or embarrassing questions, you just looked like your thoughts were a million miles away over dinner.”

“Yer, just a little.”

“We’ll have to organise dinner one night when Allies not working late, I really would like to get to know her, she must be good for you, you look happier than I’ve ever seen you.”

“Yes, she is, I just wish I could get past some of the crap that’s still in my head.”

“She’s not pressuring you to do anything you feel uncomfortable with is she?”

“Oh god no, if anything she stops me, it’s like she knows when I’ll start to feel uncomfortable before I do.”

“Honestly, you’ll know when your ready, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise especially a certain person who I know is listening to our conversation.”

“Gidge, you spoil all my fun,” an offended looking Franky walked out of the kitchen.

“Oh Franky, your face, we need a picture of that.”

“What time does blondie finish tonight?”

“She won’t be in till after midnight.”

“That’s rough, you ready to go home or are ya sticking around?”

Looking at the time Bea decided that she’d rather go home, if she stayed there any later she would end up having a few more glasses of wine and she wanted to keep a clear head, she was trying not to think too much about Kaz, but she couldn’t put her out of her mind completely.

“Think I’m ready to go if you don’t mind.”

“Na Red, we don’t mind, give me a sec and I’ll take ya home.”

\------------------------------

Walking into the empty house Bea just sighed, getting a bottle of water from the fridge she switched the tv on flicking through the channels and eventually settled on a comedy show that she’d never heard of, once it had finished she decided to just go to bed and read. Bea had dozed off while reading her book, when Allie got home she found her still sat up asleep with her book resting in her lap. Allie couldn’t help but smile, she picked the book up and put it on the floor before trying to wake Bea up, she kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, Bea opened her eyes.

“Allie, what time is it?”

“12:17 you weren’t waiting up for me where you?”

“I was trying to, must have nodded off while I was reading.”

“You should lie down and go back to sleep, I won’t be long.”

Allie went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and had a wash, entering the bedroom Bea had fallen asleep again but at least she wasn’t still sat up, getting ready for bed she slipped into bed beside her, reached over and turned off the lamp before snuggling up to Bea, she was tired and almost instantly fell asleep. She was woken a short while later hearing Bea mumbling, she sat up realising that she wasn’t awake, she sat there for a couple of minutes listening, she couldn’t make everything out,

“No, she’s not going with you”

“I told you, no.”

“Leave her alone”

Allie knew what she was dreaming about but she wasn’t sure if she should try to wake her up, she didn’t need to as Bea sat bolt up right in bed tears streaming down her face.

“Bea….babe, you were dreaming,”

“Allie,” she turned to here and threw her arms round her clinging on to her as if her life depended on it.

“It’s alright, I’m here, what were you dreaming about?”

“It was Kaz she was trying to take you away,”

“Babe lay down with me, I promise you she’s not going to take me anywhere I don’t want to go.”

“Promise?”

Allie pulled her back down in the bed turning over and cuddling up to her.

“I promise, I’m not going anywhere, I’m right here with you and that’s the only place I want to be.”

Bea pulled Allie as close to her as could and held her tight, Allie was tired but didn’t want to go to sleep in case Bea started dreaming again, but she felt her eyes closing, Bea was wide awake, but she kept quiet, just as Allie was falling asleep Bea released her grip on her a little pulling her head slightly back on her pillow so she could look at Allie better.

“I love you.”

Allie smiled

“I love you to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll have another chapter or two for you tomorrow.


	25. Chapter 25

Bea had forgotten to set the alarm the night before when Allie woke up she was still sleeping soundly beside her, she looked over at the clock, suddenly realising that it was gone 9am and Bea was late for work. Allie sat up, shaking Bea lightly but got no response, she shook her a little harder and still got no response, kissing her face instead Allie felt her start moving but she didn’t open her eyes,

“Bea, you need to wake up.”

“But I don’t want to.”

“Babe, your late for work!”

“Am not the alarm hasn’t gone off yet.”

“I think you forgot to set it, its after 9.”

Bea sat up quickly looking at the time,

“Fuck, Franky’s going to give me shit for this.”

“For oversleeping?”

  
“Come on you know she won’t believe that, she’ll think we were…..well you know.”

“Babe seriously, we know you over slept, who cares what Franky thinks?”

“You would if you had to work with her.”

“You go for a shower, I’ll call Liz for you and tell her you’re going to be late.”

Bea got out of bed and ran into the bathroom, Allie couldn’t help but laugh. Picking up Beas phone she called Liz.

“Bea love, everything alright?”

“Liz, its Allie, Bea forgot to set the alarm, she’s only just got up.”

“No problem, we aren’t busy, and Franky hasn’t got in yet, and I’m betting her excuse isn’t the alarm.”

“Thanks Liz, think I better go and make some coffee.”

“Tell Bea not to worry love and I’ll see her later.”

Hanging up she went to the bathroom door and opened it,

“Bea I phoned Liz, she said not to worry about being late.”

“Yer, but she doesn’t have to put up with Franky’s constant teasing.”

“Actually she said Franky isn’t in yet.”

“Franky late? Wonder if she had the same problem with her alarm,” she giggled.

“Maybe, I’ll make some coffee.”

She struggled to close the door behind her, she really could have just have stripped herself and got in the shower with Bea and had her right there. She wasn’t going to let on to Bea, but she was struggling, she wanted her all the time, the more time they spent together the worse that need got, but she had said that she wouldn’t pressure her into anything and she wasn’t about to change her mind and risk losing her because she couldn’t control herself. She went to the kitchen and put the coffee on, ten minutes later Bea appeared in the kitchen.

“Coffee?”

“Please.”

She poured her a mug handing it over.

“I might stay at work later tonight and make up for being late.”

“It’s up to you, you’re only home alone anyway,” she sighed.

“Hey, I thought you enjoyed working at the bar.”

“I do, I just don’t like working really late, I miss you.”

Bea finished her coffee, putting the mug in the sink and turning to Allie bringing her into a hug.

“I miss you to, but your on early next week aren’t you?”

“Yes, thank god.”

Bea kissed her on the cheek.

“I’ve got to go.”

\------------------------------

Bea made it into the office five minutes before Franky strolled in, she was sitting on the edge of Liz’s desk when she appeared, grin plastered on her face.

“What time do you call this Doyle?”

“Oh yer, about that, Gidge forgot to set the alarm.”

Both Bea and Liz burst out laughing.

“Ok, what’s so funny?”

“Oh nothing, except that we really don’t believe that.”

“It’s the truth, honestly, phone Gidge, ya know she wouldn’t lie to you, don’t think she knows how.”

“Ok Franky if you say so.”

“Well…..I better get on with some work,” she headed off to her office leaving Bea and Liz still laughing.

“That was close love.”

“I know, but I really did forget to set the alarm, I was reading in bed trying to wait up for Allie and I fell asleep.”

“Next time remember to set the alarm before you pick a book up.”

“Oh, trust me I will.”

\------------------------------

It was gone 8pm when Bea noticed the time. Franky hadn’t left until 7pm saying that she had almost finished up a report and needed to finish it. Shutting down her computer she thought she heard the door open, she shrugged it off until she heard it close, getting up from her chair she crossed her office stopping behind her door to listen, not a sound, she slowly opened her office door, no one there. Leaving her office she spotted a box sat a few feet away from the door, she walked over to it, seeing nothing more than just what looked like a bunch of papers and a few photo’s with an envelope sat on the top with Allie’s name on it, she picked it up setting it down on Liz’s desk, opened the door stepping outside to look around, there was no one there, no cars that she didn’t recognise, walking back inside she pulled her phone out and sent a text to Allie.

**A box was just left for you at the office, on my way over to the bar.**

Putting her phone away she switched all the lights off, picked up the box and left the office locking the door behind her and getting into her car, putting the box on the passenger seat. This had to be Kaz, she couldn’t just go into the office during the day like any normal person, but how did she know anyone was still there? Only one answer she could come up with that she watching the office, and if she was watching the office did she know where she lived, where Allie was now living, did she know where Allie was working? She was dragged from her thoughts by her phone, taking it from her pocket it was a text from Allie.

**That’s strange, you don’t have to come over, but I would love to see you x**

**I’m coming over, I miss you**

She put her phone away and drove over to Wills bar heading inside it wasn’t that busy and Allie was chatting with Shane, she spotted Bea and headed over to the end of the bar just as Bea was sitting down.

“You miss me that much?”

“Always,”

“So, a mystery box? What’s in it?”

“I don’t really know I didn’t look, just looks like papers and a few photographs, but it’s for you, there is an envelope with it with your name written on it.”

“You think Kaz left it don’t you?”

“Who else could it be?”

“No idea. Do you want a drink, my treat?”

“I’ll have a beer seeing as I’m here,” Winking at Allie.

“One beer coming right up for the gorgeous woman at the end of the bar.”

Bea blushed and gave her a shy smile.

“You’re too cute when you blush you know,”

“I am not.”

Will had just left his office seeing Bea and Allie at the end of the bar talking he headed over to them.

“Ladies, everything ok?”

Allie looked at Will,“I better get back to work.”

Will laughed, “what did I say?”

“I think she’s still a little scared of losing this job.”

“Na, not going to happen, I’d be the biggest idiot going to let Allie go, she works too hard, and she’s picked everything up so quickly.”

“She loves working here.”

“Not as much as she loves you, and before you say anything it’s obvious, you look good together, and that smile suits you.”

Bea just nodded a little lost for words.

“So anyway, how come your in here tonight?”

“Oh, just something strange happened before I left work and I needed to tell Allie.”

“Strange, sounds interesting want to tell me?”

Bea told Will everything that had happened that evening.

“So this Kaz, was the one Allie used to live with, and she’s not taking her leaving so well, she’s got no chance of getting Allie back ya know.”

“I know, Allie said that, but I can’t help thinking that she coming after her, after us.”

“I think she’s jealous, I mean I’ve never seen the woman, but look at you, your stunning Bea, who wouldn’t be jealous, and you have something she wants back. I hate to say it but maybe she thought that her and Allie had a future.”

“Shit, I never thought of that, I wonder if Allie even realised?”

“You know what, its dead in here, I think I’m going to let you take Allie home, and so I don’t look like I’m playing favourites I’ll let Shane go too, they both deserve it anyway.”

Thirty minutes later they were home, Bea had been quiet on the drive over and Allie presumed it was just something to do with the box and the way it had been left at the office.

“Come and sit with me, you can help me go through all this crap.”

“It was left for you Allie, I don’t need to see what it is.”

“No you don’t but I want you to, I’ve got nothing to hide from you, please?”

“Ok, but only if your sure.”

“I am.”

Most of it was just junk, notes Allie had written herself so she didn’t forget stuff, photos of her and her ex they went straight in the bin pile, a couple of photos of her with Kaz, Bea said that she should keep them, there was still a chance that they could sort this out, Allie said she didn’t want them but Bea put them to one side and told her to think about it later. Getting to the bottom of the box she found her driving license and passport, she laughed at the passport photo, telling Bea the only reason she got it in the first place was because Kaz had insisted she needed one. The last thing she found in the box were the few family photos she had managed to keep, managed to keep them safe even out on the streets, they were the most important things to her, a picture of her grandma and grandad together, one of them with her when she was around 12 and one of her and her grandma about six months before she died. Bea said that she was going to get her some frames to put them in, that made Allie cry.

“Kaz said that they were my old life and I should throw them away.”

“That’s crap, they are your family, always will be, they may not be around anymore but you can’t erase their memory and it’s good to have a picture to look at, I would never want you to forget them, and Kaz had no right saying that to you.”

Allie wiped her eyes, “how did I ever find you, you’re too good for me?”

“I think it’s the other way round, but I found you if you remember.”

Allie picked up the envelope turning it over in her hands a few times.

“Are you going to open it?”

“It’s probably just more of her shit, I’m not sure I want to open it.”

“It’s up to you what you do, but maybe reading it when you aren’t tired would be better.”

“Maybe I’ll read it tomorrow, and maybe I’ll just throw it away, soooo, are you coming to bed?”

“Oh I don’t know about that.”

“I’m insulted, are you saying you don’t want to snuggle up to this?” Pointing at herself.

“Now that has to be an offer I can’t resist, but I’m warning you I can’t promise that I won’t have to kiss you.”

“Oh ya better!”

Leaving the envelope on the coffee table they went to bed.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bea is frustrated, will she make the first move?

They had been laying in bed for almost two hours and Allie had fallen asleep after a pretty heavy make out session, Bea on the other hand was very much awake and this time it wasn’t because of thoughts about what Kaz was up to, she really hadn’t wanted to stop but again Allie had put an end to it and now Bea was just frustrated. She turned her back towards Allie and moved herself as far away from her as she could but that wasn’t helping. In the end she got up and went to the kitchen to get a drink, sitting at the kitchen table she couldn’t get the thoughts of touching Allie out of her head. It was no good, she couldn’t take it any longer, she needed Allie, she needed more. Going back to bed she stood at the bottom of the bed looking at Allie, she looked perfect, she didn’t want to wake her up, “fuck it” she thought to herself.

The usual shy Bea had evaporated totally, stripping herself of her nightwear she climbed back into bed next to Allie gently pushing her over onto her back and straddling her. She knew Allie only ever slept in a t shirt and panties, and she was determined that they weren’t staying on for any longer than she could help it. Leaning down she kissed her nose, her cheeks, her forehead before kissing her on her lips. Moving to her neck she kissed her down her neck reaching her pulse point she kissed, sucked and nibbled it before she got any reaction from Allie,

“Bea …..what are you doing?” She said sleepily.

“I need you, I need to feel you.”

“Fuck Bea.”

She kissed back up the other side of her neck before planting a soft loving kiss on her lips.

“Are you sure about this.”

“I’ve never been so sure about anything, I can’t wait any longer.”

Allie wrapped her arms around Beas neck pulling her closer kissing her with more passion than ever before, their tongues gliding together until they had to break apart desperate for air. Bea pulled back dragging her hands down Allies sides until she reached the hem of her shirt slowly tugging it up Allie raised her arms and head enough for Bea to finally get the offending item of clothing out of the way. Bea looked down at Allie raking her eyes over every inch of exposed skin she could lay her eyes on.

“So beautiful,” she mumbled as she moved herself so she was laying between Allies legs, lowering herself so they were laying breast to breast, kissing down her neck and along her collar bone, slowly kissing down between her breasts before turning her attention to her right breast kissing it gently enjoying the feeling of the soft skin against her lips before licking lightly over the nipple and sucking it into her mouth, Allie moaned softly. Bea had no clue what she was doing, but she really didn’t care right now, all she wanted was to feel Allies skin against hers. She remembered what Franky had said about knowing when it felt right and going with it, and this felt right, so right. She kissed her way over to her left breast repeating what she had just done.

“Bea, please, come up here,”

Bea looked up at Allie before slowly kissing her way back to her face.

“Bea we really don’t have to do this,”

  
“Yes, yes we do, I want this.”

“If you start to feel uncomfortable you let me know and We can stop."

Allie wrapped her arms around her pulling her even closer than she thought possible, she just wanted to feel her skin against her own, Bea was trying to wriggle free from Allie but she wasn’t getting away.

“Allie” Bea wined.

Allie flipped them over, releasing the tight hold she had on her, trailing her hands up her arms, goosebumps raising on her skin. Raising herself slightly so she was hovering above her looking down between their bodies before leaning forward and kissing her, breaking the kiss to move onto her neck, kissing her way down until reaching her pulse point lightly nibbling on it, earning her a moan, kissing across her collar bone, down her chest and kissing her way across each breast before turning her attention to her left breast, swirling her tongue around the nipple before sucking it into her mouth, earning her another moan. Her hand finding its way to her right breast slowly kneading it before rolling the nipple between her thumb and finger. Her other hand trailing down Beas side making her shiver. Slowly dragging herself down Beas body kissing every inch of skin she could, she didn’t want to rush wanted to take her time, Beas frustration level slowly rising.

“Allie, I…I…need……” she trailed off

“What do you need?”

“You….I…need you to….touch me.”

Allie slowly kissed her way back up Beas body reaching her lips kissing her softly.

“Tell me if you want me to stop.”

Bea just nodded.

Trailing her fingers slowly down her body tracing small circles across her stomach her muscles twitching beneath her fingertips, before moving lower her fingers finding their way to her overheated soaking wet core.

“Please Allie,” she said almost pleadingly and opening her legs wider.

Allie ran her fingers through her soaking wet folds causing Bea to gasp, stilling her movement as she reached her entrance, skimming her thumb over her clit.

“Fuck Allie, please.”

“What do you want Bea?”

“I need you,…..inside me.”

Allie slowly entered her with one finger, stilling the movement to allow Bea to get used to the feeling, feeling her wriggle slightly she slowly started to thrust in and out of her.

“More.”

Allie withdrew her finger adding another before thrusting back into her, stilling her movement again for a few seconds before picking up the pace, swiping over her clit with her thumb. Picking up the pace a little more she began circling her clit with her thumb before curling her fingers inside her feeling her inner walls start to convulse.

“Oh, fuck…….Allie,..I…I…”

“It’s ok, I’m right here, let go for me.”

That was all Bea needed before her orgasm ripped through her entire body, Allie holding onto her while helping her ride it out, slowing her movements before stilling completely and removing her fingers. Bea lay there breathing heavily trying to calm down, after a few minutes her breathing was returning to normal, she cuddled into Allie who was now laying beside her.

“Allie, that was amazing…..I love you.”

“I love you to, more than anything.”

Bea pulled Allie back on top of her before flipping them over.

“Bea you don’t have to.”

“I want to, but I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“It’s ok, just do what I did, you won’t hurt me, I’m not going to break.”

Bea crashed their lips together as she trailed her hand down Allies body to the waistband of her panties, dragging them down enough for Allie to wriggle her way out of them.she dragged her hand over her hip down the front of her thigh before slowly dragging her fingers up the inside of her thigh until she reached the place where she knew Allie needed her the most, slipping a finger between her already dripping wet folds she circled her clit making Allie moan loudly, dipping her fingers lower she slid a finger inside her, amazed at how hot and wet she was, before removing it and adding another finger slowly, she slowly began moving her fingers in and out feeling Allies hips begin to buck she quickened the pace, swiping her thumb over her clit.

“Fuck Bea, don’t stop, I’m so close.”

That spurred her on speeding up her movements more and circling her clit with her thumb. Allies orgasm ripped through her like nothing she had ever felt before, moaning Beas name over and over. Bea slowed her movements before removing her fingers and pulling Allie close to her holding her until she calmed down.

“God Bea.”

“Was it that bad?”

“What? No, that was….that was…I can’t even find the words to describe it.”

“So it was good?”

“Babe it was fantastic.”

They lay holding each other both slowly drifting off to sleep, the envelope on the coffee table long forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try and get another chapter at least started today, but I have an appointment later that I'm really not looking forward to.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure I like this chapter much, I only half finished it yesterday. After my appointment got postponed for another four weeks I really couldn't concentrate on writing.

Allie woke up an hour before the alarm was due to go off, arms and legs still tangled with Beas, her head resting against her chest she felt happier than she ever remembered feeling. She wanted to stay right were she was forever, her mind wondered back to the previous night the smile on her face growing wider. About twenty minutes later she felt Bea turn her head guessing she was looking at the time before feeling her move her head towards her kissing her on the head, She moved her head to rest against Beas shoulder.

“Good morning babe.”

“Mmm, good morning beautiful,” she replied sleepily, before pulling her closer.

They lay there in silence enjoying the closeness until the alarm made them both jump.

“God, do I really have to go to work today?”

“Well we could stay here all day but then you’ll have to put up with Franky teasing you.”

“Shit, that’s even worse than getting up, but ya know she’s going to tease me anyway.”

“Better get up, you go and have a shower, I’ll make breakfast.”

Allie untangled her self from Bea, much to her displeasure, even though she knew she had to get up she really didn’t want to. Allie got out of bed picking her shirt up off the floor and pulling it on turning to look at Bea.

“Come on get your lazy self out of that bed.”

“No.”

Allie walked slowly back over to the bed before laying down on her side next to Bea looking her straight in the eye.

“Your not still shy are you,”

Bea just blushed.

“And there I was thinking after you woke me up like that you’d have forgotten about being shy around me.”

She lent over and kissed her.

“I’ll leave you to it.”

She got off the bed pulled a pair of shorts out of a drawer and put them on, getting to the door she turned to look at Bea before opening it.

“Better hurry up,” winking back over her shoulder before walking out of the bedroom closing the door behind her.

As soon as Allie left the room she jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom grabbing a quick shower, wrapping a towel round herself she went back to the bedroom finding Allie sat on the bed with the envelope in her hand, 2 mugs of coffee sat on the bedside table.

“I think we need to open this,”

“Open it then.”

Allie shook her head,

“No, WE need to open this, come and sit down.”

Bea didn’t know why Allie seemed so nervous, had she done something that Kaz knew about and she’d not told her? Pushing that thought to the back of her mind she walked over to the bed sitting down next to Allie putting her arm around her waist and pulling her closer.

“Any idea what’s in it?”

“No, I can’t think of anything, I’ve got nothing to hide, I’ve told you everything, you believe me don’t you?”

“Course I do, but Kaz is up to something that is blindingly obvious.”

“I know, but I don’t know why, I never said I’d stay with her forever.”

“Maybe not but maybe that’s how she thought it would be, let’s just get it over and done with.”

Allie turned the envelope over and opened it, finding nothing but a photo inside, and it wasn’t like anything she was expecting, it was of Allie and Kaz, Allie vaguely remembers the night it was taken, they had gone to a party at one of Kaz’s friends houses, only the next morning she didn’t remember how she got home, thinking that she just got so wasted she couldn’t remember, and she certainly didn’t remember this picture being taken, Kaz was kissing Allie and not in a way friends kiss.

“Bea…I…I…don’t remember that ever happening.”

Bea was shocked but noticed that it looked like there was writing on the back.

“Allie turn it over.”

She turned it over, in bright red pen it said,

_Your mine, you belong to me, you’ll be back here sooner than you think, back where you belong_

“Bea you have to believe me, I don’t remember that happening.”

Bea was shocked, then she remembered what Will had said about Kaz thinking they had a future together.

“Bea, please talk to me.”

“Sorry…..I’m not ignoring you, just shocked, but Will said something to me yesterday.”

“What? What did he say?”

“He thinks that Kaz thinks that I’ve got something that she wants, that maybe she thought that she had a future with you.”

“Fuck, she’s more fucking sick and twisted than I thought, you can’t believe that I would want to be with her, you don’t do you?”

“That photo was obviously taken long before we even met, plus you look totally out of it. And do you really think that if I believed that I would still be sat here with you?”

“Probably not.”

“Listen, I’m going to take this to work with me, show Franky, see what she thinks, is that ok?”

“I guess, fuck Franky’s going to lay into me now.”

“No she’s not, I won’t let her, do you really think I can’t handle Franky?”

“I guess.”

“When I leave I’m going to lock the door, she could have followed me home, I’ll talk to Franky and then we’ll come back here,”

“I have to go to work.”

“I know, but not until 3 right, I’ll take you in, I need a word with Will.”

“Oh great, I’m going to lose my job for sure when he finds out I’ve got a twisted fucker stalking me.”

“No, Allie you won’t, Will is an ex cop, he still has mates on the force, and he’ll watch out for you when your at work.”

“Are you sure?”

“Have I lied to you yet?”

“No.”

“And I’m not about to start right now, I love you Allie, she’s not going to get near you, I promise.”

\------------------------------

Bea arrived at work before 8:30am, seeing Lizs’s car parked in its usual spot she pulled her phone out to call Franky.

“Sup Red?”

“Franky can you come into the office, like now.”

“Yer sure Red but now ya got me worried, gonna give me a clue?”

“I don’t want to talk about it over the phone.”

“Sounds serious, I’ll get my shit together and be right over, 15 minutes ok?”

“Thanks Franky.”

Putting her phone away she got out of the car and headed into the office. Liz was already sitting at her desk flicking through a magazine.

“Morning love, everything ok?”

“Yes and no, Franky’s on her way in.”

“You got Franky to come in early?”

“Yes, I will fill you in but I really need to speak to Franky first.”

“No worries love, oh, before you go, this was under the door when I got in this morning.”

Liz passed her an envelope, _Bea Smith_ , written on it in red ink. Taking the envelope from Liz she went to her office, she recognised the hand writing, “fucking Kaz,” she thought to herself. She dropped it down on her desk and sat down waiting for Franky.

Five minutes later Franky walked through her office door. Taking a seat in front of the desk.

“So come on what’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait another half an hour?”

Bea slid the photo across the desk to her.

“When you’ve looked at it turn it over and read the back.”

“Shit, Bea, is this for real? Na, Na that picture was staged, blondies not even conscious by the looks of it. Fucking twisted bitch.”

“Tell me about it,”

“How she holding up?”

“Allies more scared that I don’t believe her than she seems to be of anything Kaz can throw at her.”

  
“You do believe her don’t ya?”

“Course I do, and even if I didn’t, it happened before we met, strange thing is is that I know Allie was seeing someone else before she did her disappearing act, she said she only dumped her when she found out what she used to do, but that’s another story, she never said anything about Kaz sticking her nose in, but then maybe she didn’t know.”

“Well I don’t know her as well as you do, and that fucking smile on ya face is sickening, so I know ya don’t believe anything that fuck nut is saying.”

“This was under the door when Liz got here,” picking the envelope up off the desk.

“Have ya opened it?”

“No, I was waiting for you to get here.”

Franky got up and walked round the desk sitting on the edge.

“No time like the present.”

Bea opened it removing a piece of paper inside, unfolding it and reading it out loud.

_Allies mine, keep your hands off, I want her packed and out of your house by the end of the day._

“Shit, that’s fucked up.”

“You think?”

“So what are we gonna do?”

“You’re helping?”

“What do you think? We’re family ain’t we, and no one messes with my family.”

“We’re going to have to tell Liz everything, and we need to speak to Will.”

“Right so first things first, we need to find out as much as we can about Kaz, you still got all her details?”

“Should be in Allies missing person file, Liz can dig it out.”

“I’ll get the file and do some digging, you explained this to Liz and then get home, I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

Franky left Bea sitting in her office, the only thing that made any sense in her head was that Kaz was jealous, but why now? She hadn’t been jealous about her previous girlfriend, at least Allie said she hadn’t been. There had to be more behind this and she was going to get to the bottom of it one way or another. Leaving her office she filled Liz in on everything that had happened, before checking in with Franky who just told her to go home and make sure Allie was ok. Heading out of the office Bea asked Liz to make sure the CCTV outside the office was turned on and recording 24 hours, they didn’t normally bother but if it was Kaz hanging around she wanted proof.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should get st least one more chapter up today.


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting, I've not been feeling too well today.

When she got home arrived home Allie wasn’t in the lounge or the kitchen, guessing she must still be upstairs she went straight to the bedroom finding her curled up on the bed cuddling her legs to her chest sobbing uncontrollably, she flew across the room sitting on the bed and pulling Allie into her lap.

“Allie, baby, what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry…….”

“Sorry for what?”

“About Kaz, about that photo, about Kaz ever asking you to find me.”

“Hey, hey, listen to me, I’m not sorry about Kaz asking me to find you, I’m glad I found you, I don’t care about Kaz, about that photo, I only care about you, we’re going to get through this, we’ll find out what game she’s playing and we’ll sort it out, you don’t need to worry about it.”

“I should leave, then she’ll leave you alone if you don’t know where I am.”

“No, Allie, I want you to stay, you can’t leave, I won’t let you, I love you.”

“Even with all the trouble I’m causing you?”

“You aren’t causing me any trouble, this is all on Kaz not you.”

They sat there until there was a knock on the door, hearing it open and close.

“Red you here?” Franky called out.

“Up here, we’ll be down in a minute.”

“Yer, I'll make fresh coffee.”

\------------------------------

“Hey come on you, go get a shower and come down when your ready.”

“I don’t want to see Franky, this is all my fault.”

“No it’s not, stop saying that, Franky wants to help, now come on, or I might have to drag you into the shower myself, and Franky would have a field day with that.”

“Yer,” Allie giggled.

“That’s better, I’ll be downstairs ok?”

“I’ll try not to take too long but I can’t promise anything.”

“Take too long and I might have to send Franky to look for you!”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Take too long and you’ll find out.” She threw over her shoulder as she walked out of the door.

\------------------------------

Bea found Franky sat at the kitchen table waiting for her coffee in hand, she poured herself a cup and sat down across the table from her.

“What took so bloody long, havin’ a quickie were ya?”

“Piss off Franky!”

“Just kiddin’ with ya, but I know what that smile ya wearin’ means, and I want details but that can wait, at least for now!”

“So did you find anything out?”

“Yer, she’s a bit of a shady character.”

“How so?”

“Well I checked out her social media, ya know, start with the obvious, she’s associated with some pretty nasty people.”

“How do you mean nasty?”

“Well I did some digging couple of them have done time and at least one of them is a drug dealer.”

“This doesn’t make any sense, why would she be associated with a drug dealer?”

“Hey, just tellin’ ya what I found.”

“Yer, I know, this whole thing is outta hand, and I can’t see how Allie is caught up in any of this.”

“Me either, a drug dealer and helping a junkie get clean hardly go hand in hand.”

“Franky, I know you mean well but please, don’t refer to Allie as a junkie, you really don’t know what she’s been through.”

“Yer, sorry I shouldn’t have said that, so where is blondie anyway, makin’ herself look all sexy for yours truly?”

“Thought I told ya before Franky I have standards.”

“Yer ya did but ya can’t blame me for trying.”

“In your dreams Franky.”

“Oh, what ya sayin’ ya been dreamin’ about me?”

“God no, I don’t need to dream I have all I want right here,” she said walking up behind Bea and wrapping her arms round her.

“Fine I know when I’ve lost.”

“Allie, we need to tell you something’s that Franky has found out about Kaz.”

“Is this going to be bad?”

“It might be hard to swallow, but you have to tell us if you knew anything about what we know.”

Franky told her everything that she had dug up, Allie just sat there listening not believing half of what she was hearing, she couldn’t get her head round it.

“Your telling me that Kaz is friends with a drug dealer?”

“Afraid so.”

“Wouldn’t happen to be Tina would it?”

“Yer, so you knew all this time?”

“No, not exactly, I knew there was something I didn’t like about her, and….that photo, it was taken at her party.”

“This just keeps gettin’ better.”

“What are you thinking Franky?”

“That I need to do more diggin’, I have a funny feeling. I’m goin’ back to office.”

“Call me if find anything.”

“No problem Red, laters.”

\-------------------------------

Franky wasn’t going back to the office, she jumped in the car and headed off straight for Kaz’s house. She just had to hope that she didn’t make things worse than they were. Twenty minutes later she pulled up outside Kaz’s, spotting her car was parked on the drive she took a deep breath before getting out of the car and walking to the front door and knocking on it loudly. The door opened, as soon as Kaz saw who it was she tried shutting  the door in her face but Franky was too quick for her placing her arm against the door.

  
“What the fuck do you want,” she spat.

“You know what I want, I want to know what the fuck is goin’ on!”

“I just want Allie back.”

“Why? What’s this about?”

“You better come in, I’m not talking about this on the fucking door step.”

She opened the door and Franky pushed passed her.

“Can I get you a drink?”

“Na, I want to know why you’re doing this, blondie reckons you weren’t like this with her last girlfriend so why ya got a problem with Bea?”

“I don’t have a problem with Bea…..sit down please.”

Franky took a seat, waiting for Kaz to sit.

“You don’t have a problem with Bea? Ya have a funny way of showing it.”

“You have to believe me I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to put Allie through this, or Bea, but….”

“Spit it out already, I don’t have the rest of my fucking life to sit here.”

“I suppose you already know about Tina?”

Franky nodded.

“I met her just before I met Allie, at the time I didn’t know she was a dealer, she was always hanging around the girls on the streets and I got talking to her, she was always friendly and we got on. It wasn’t until Allie and her ex split up that I found out what she was, I tried to get her out of my life, but then Allie went missing, I couldn’t find her so I went to Bea as you know. I hate to have to say this but this is because of Allie being with Bea.”

“Oh yer, let’s blame it on Bea, are you really that fucked in the head?”

“No I’m not saying that, like I’m blaming her. Tina supplies a screw at Walford, Jake Stewart, when Allie didn’t want to come home Tina saw her with Bea, she knew about Harry being Bea’s ex and she said something to Jake. He must have told Harry about Bea and Allie. Tina’s been watching Allie and she told Jake about her moving in with Bea, she’s been watching them for Harry, taking pictures and Jake has been passing them on, he’s passing on messages from Harry. He blames Bea for him being in prison, he’s been beaten up a few times, pretty badly a couple of times so I’ve heard. And, well long story short he wants Bea to suffer, either I split them up or their coming after me. That photo, it wasn’t what it seems, everyone at that party was drunk, Allie was passed out, it was a dare, there’s never been anymore between me and Allie than friends.”

“So your telling me that this is because of Harry?”

“Basically yes.”

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“Honestly, I don’t expect you to, I’m sure you can do your own detective work.”

“I will be you can count on that, trust me I’ll be back.”

“Will you pass a message on to Allie and Bea?”

“Not sure that’s a good idea do you?”

“If you change your mind tell them I’m sorry, and tell Allie I’m glad she’s happy.”

Franky got up and walked to the door, opening it just as she was about to walk out Kaz called to her

“I found these, Allie would want them.” Handing over a few photographs, “Their of her grandparents, I was going to bring them round to your office, not a good idea though really.”

“I’ll make sure she gets them, not sure how I’ll explain where they came from, I’ll be in touch.”

Franky left, not knowing if she could believe anything she had said, but knowing that she needed to at least look into it before saying anything to Bea or Allie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should have another chapter for you tomorrow


	29. Chapter 29

Bea had taken Allie to work and hung around for a while, Allie had managed to convince her not to tell Will, well at least for now she had. She’d promised to call her on her break before she convinced her that she was perfectly fine to be left. Leaving the bar Bea decided to go to the office for a while to find out if Franky had found anything else out. When she arrived Franky wasn’t in, Liz said she hadn’t seen her since she’d said she was going over to her house.

“She hasn’t called you?”

“No love, but I’m sure she’ll be back.”

“Fucking Franky, she never does what she says she’s going to do.”

A few seconds later Franky walked through the door.

“Fuck are ya doing here Red?”

“Never mind, where the fuck have you been, and don’t start lying either Franky.”

“Shit, we need to talk.”

“Ya don’t say, so out with it.”

  
“Na, not out here.”

“Don’t want to share in front of Liz, that’s really mature Franky.”

“It’s not that, fuck…Liz lock up will ya, Red ya better sit down.”

Liz looked at Franky a questioning look on her face, seeing Franky raise an eyebrow at her she knew that this was not going to be a conversation you wanted just anyone to overhear, she got up and locked the door, returning to her seat behind her desk her eyes darting between Franky and Bea.

“I don’t need to sit down Franky.”

“Yer trust me ya do, I’ve been to see Kaz.”

“What the fuck, what were you thinking Franky?”

“Just sit down already and I’ll tell ya, but before I do, Liz can ya call Will, ask him if he can come over?”

Bea sat down staring at Franky the whole time. This was going to set a whole shit storm off, Franky knew that and as much as she didn’t want to say anything she had to. After telling her everything that Kaz had said Bea just sat there for a while, staring blankly at Franky, shaking her head she tried to take in what Franky had told her.

“She could be lying.”

“Yer Red she could, but I need to check it out, and you need to be careful.”

“Careful……..your fucking telling me to be careful? The fucker is locked up and he can still get to me, get to Allie.”

“I know, calm down, I need to speak to Will, he’s still got contacts on the force.”

“Yer, fuck, I promised not to tell Will anything yet.”

“Your not breaking a promise, I didn’t say I wouldn’t say anything, I’m the one telling him.”

\------------------------------

Thirty minutes later Will had been filled in on the conversation with Kaz.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting that Franky, I can tell you one thing right now I’m pretty familiar with the name Tina Mercado.”

“So what do we do?”

“Give me a minute, I’ll call Matt, I know they’ve been looking into the whole drug problem in Walford, no one has any idea how the place is being so easily flooded with drugs, the suspicion is that a guard must be involved but up until now none of them have stood out.”

\----------------------------

Franky had just gotten off the phone informing Kaz that she needed to come into the office, she had put up a good fight but Franky had told her that it was either the office or another home visit, this time with a cop in tow, and if Tina was hanging around things would get really bad really quick for her, that was enough to make her agree to meeting at the office later that night. Bea had tried to insist that she needed to be there, Franky and Will eventually managing to convince her that it would be better for her to go to the bar and spend the evening keeping an watchful eye over Allie,at least until Will got back.

Kaz arrived at the office just before 7pm, she was a bundle of nerves, trying to stay alert and making sure that she wasn’t followed, when she entered the office she was surprised that Liz was being pleasant.

“Can I get you a coffee love?” Liz enquired.

“That would be good, is Franky here?”

“Yes, she’s in Bea’s office, she should be out in a second.”

“Bea’s not here is she?”

“No, no, no need to be so nervous, Matt’s a good cop, you just tell him everything you can.”

Kaz just nodded taking the coffee from Liz just as Franky walked out of Bea’s office, Will and Matt in tow.

“Kaz, please come into my office, this is Will Jackson, ex cop and Allie’s boss, this here is Matt Fletcher all round decent cop and the guy responsible for the investigation at the prison.”

They all walked into Franky’s office Matt getting straight to the point and having Kaz repeat everything she had told Franky. As she had expected he had a lot more questions than she had the answers to. Two hours later she was leaving the office, relieved that it was over for now, but knowing that she was going to have to spend time with Tina in the near future. Will assured Franky that he and Matt were going back to the bar and that they would sit down with Bea and Allie, just not tonight. They were going to fill Bea in but saw no need to worry Allie any more than she already was.

Arriving back at the bar Will got Bea’s attention without Allie noticing, gesturing for her to follow them through to the office, she waited for Allie to be distracted by a customer before following Will to the office.

“Is she lying then?”

“It seems from what she’s saying that she’s telling the truth, although we are going to need her to get us more information.”

“Are you sure that’s safe?”

“Wow, I thought you wanted to rip her head off Bea,” Will joked.

  
“Yer, well I did, but if Harry is behind this she has no idea what she’s gotten herself into already.”

“How’s Allie doing?”

“Still worried, she’s ready to smack Kaz again.”

“Again?”

“Oh yer, she’s already punched her, but that was because of somethings she said about me, us, it doesn’t really matter.”

“Got a live wire on our hands have we?”

“Defiantly, I better get back to her, she’ll come looking for me if I’m gone much longer.”

Returning to the bar Allie spotted her straight away.

“Sneaking around with Will now are ya?”

“He just wanted a word that’s all, nothing to worry about.”

“Why don’t you go home?”

“I’d rather wait for you to finish and take you home.”

“Babe you don’t have to, I’ll get a taxi home, I’d much rather you went home and rested.”

“I don’t need to rest, I’ve done bugger all all day.”

“Yer, but you could go home and warm the bed up,” she said with a cheeky smirk and a wink.

Will returned to the bar grabbing a couple of beers before taking a seat next to Bea sliding a beer over to her.

“Sticking around till closing are ya?”

“I was but Allie wants me to go home.”

“I’ll take her home, make sure she’s safe, I don’t mind.”

“Better ask Allie about that, she wants to get a taxi.”

Will called Allie over, finally talking her into letting him take her home.

“I’ll get out of your hair then and go home, I’ll be waiting for you in bed.”


	30. Chapter 30

The next few days had passed relatively quietly, Bea had been into the office a few times just to catch up with Franky but nothing much had changed. Allie was getting pissed off, Bea had been into the bar everyday and spent a few hours there and every time Bea was there she was disappearing into the office with Will and another guy who she’d seen around a few times but didn’t know who he was was, she couldn’t work out what was going on and she wanted to know. It was Saturday, they were going to have the whole day together tomorrow and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Bea had been at the bar for an hour when Matt and Franky walked in together, they went straight to the office and Allie had noticed the look that Franky had shot Bea, she had just gotten off the stool she had been sitting on when something inside Allie had snapped, she walked round the bar stopping in front of Bea.

“So what the fuck is going on?”

“Allie……it’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Oh really, you’ve been sneaking around, first with Will and now Franky and that guy turn up and you try sneaking off again.”

“Listen, I’m not sneaking around, it’s work, you don’t need to worry about it.”

“I’m not worried about your work, I’m worried about you, sometimes I feel like your not even listening to me.”

“I do listen to you, I’ve just got things on my mind.”

“So talk to me.”

“I will, but right now this isn’t helping.”

“Really! When are you going to talk to me? Tomorrow, next week, maybe the 12th of never.”

“Allie….please.”

“No, ya know what just forget it, I know when I’m in the way and when I’m not wanted, I’ll get my stuff packed up tomorrow and I’ll be out of your way…..for good.”

“Allie I….”

“I don’t want to hear it, just do what you have to do and I’ll do what I have to do.”

She walked off back behind the bar leaving a stunned Bea literally rooted to the spot, she didn’t know what had just happened, she didn’t see Will walking over to her.

“Bea, everything ok?”

“What? No.” She could feel the tears forming in her eyes and no matter how hard she tried she was struggling to not let them fall, “I think Allie just dumped me.”

“Shit, Bea, go through to the office, I’ll go and get her, she needs to know what’s going on.”

Will walked behind the bar telling Allie that she was needed in the office, neither of them noticed Bea turn and walk out of the bar tears streaming down her face. She had no idea where she was going she just walked, the only thoughts in her head Allie’s last words to her, over and over on repeat. She found herself at the beach, sitting down on a rocks away from the few other people that were there she couldn’t get Allie out of her head, she’d kept what was going on from her thinking that it was the right thing to do, Matt and Will had both said it was better not to tell her anything until they knew more and now she had lost her, she was leaving. Her thoughts turning back to what Harry had always said, “no one could ever love you,” “you’re useless.” And right there in that moment she believing it again, Allie would leave and she would be alone again.

Allie and Will walked into the office, she looked round for Bea, looking at Franky

“Where’s Bea?”

“Thought she was out in the bar with you.”

“She was, but I thought she’d come back here.”

“She won’t be far away, sit down blondie your making the place look untidy.”

“So what’s all this about?”

Matt took over the conversation from there, Allie just sitting there a blank expression on her face.

“Allie….hey blondie,” Franky nudged her.

“So, this wasn’t all because of Kaz?”

“Jesus, were you listening?”

“I need to find Bea.” Allie ran out of the office into the bar, desperately looking around for her, Franky following her.

“Hey, she can’t be far away.”

“You don’t get it Franky, I told her I was leaving, she’s been distant, and I fucking told her I was leaving, how was I so stupid.”

“Listen we all say stupid things, ask Gidge, I let my dumb mouth run away with itself.”

“I know, but I’ve got to find her, Matt said he couldn’t tell us what was going on now without her, Franky you have to help me find her, you must know where she would go.”

Franky nodded, “stay here a minute.” She went back to the office, asking Will and Matt to meet her back at the office in a couple of hours, assuring them that Bea would be there before pulling Will to one side telling him that she needed to take Allie with her for a while. Will said it was no problem, it wasn’t like Bea to just leave without a word and he knew Allie seemed a little upset, he just told Franky that he would see her later and to tell Allie to take the rest of the day off.

“Come on then, lets go and find her, you better sort this out though or I will kick your arse.”

“I will, I just need to find her.”

They drove around for an hour, stopping at a few places Franky knew she could have gone but there was no sign of her.

“There’s only one place I can think of now.”

“You better be right this time.”

“Hey, you stuffed up here not me.”

“I know, and I need to tell her I’m sorry, I just hope she’s going to listen.”

Pulling into the car park at the beach Allie got out of the car,

“Aren’t you coming with me?”

“Na, she used to come here a lot when things were bad, try looking over where the rocks are, that’s where I’ve always found her.”

Allie turned and walked away towards the beach, seeing the rocks over in the distance she walked in that direction finally seeing a lonely figure sat down their forehead resting on their knees that were drawn up to their chest with their arms wrapped around them, red hair gently blowing in the breeze, she stopped for a second, this was all her fault, if she had thought before she had opened her mouth Bea wouldn’t be sat out here by herself now. She hated herself in that moment, all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around her tightly and never let go, swallowing down the lump in her throat and wiping away the tears that were building in her eyes she slowly began walking towards her again, stopping just inches in front of her.

“Bea….Bea baby, I’m so sorry.”

Bea didn’t move, didn’t say anything, just hearing Allie’s voice brought the tears back to her eyes. She wanted so badly to get up, be strong and just walk away but she couldn’t, her head may be telling her to but her heart kept her firmly rooted to the spot.  
Allie took the last two steps forward that were between them, dropping to her knees in front of her.  
And now she couldn’t stop the sob escaping, seeing Bea sat there right in front of her, looking so small and broken and it was all because of her.

“I’m so sorry, I never meant to hurt you, my mouth opened and a load of crap came out before I even knew what I was saying.”

The silence between them was deafening, neither of them said anything for what felt like forever even though it was in reality only a couple of minutes.

“Bea, please talk to me…..shout and scream at me…..tell me to fuck off.”

Still no answer from Bea. Allie stood up, looking down at her.

“I’ll go home now and pack, I’m sorry….I love you.” Tears streaming down her face she turned away, her feet wouldn’t cooperate, she just couldn’t walk away, not like this, only managing to move just a few steps away she sat down not even realising that Bea had lifted her head, resting her chin on her knees.

“Guess I better phone Boomer and ask if she’ll have me back, if not, well, I don’t even want to think about it. See I always told you what a fuck up I am, I’ve got nothing, I am nothing, why did you have to find me? Why did you even bother looking for me, you should have just gone home that night like Franky wanted you to.”

Bea’s heart was breaking hearing Allie speak through her tears, she couldn’t take it anymore, silently standing up and walking over to Allie she dropped to her knees behind her wrapping her arms around her.

“I couldn’t leave you out there, it didn’t matter what a Franky wanted, I had to find you. And Boomer won’t have you back because I’m not letting you go. I should have told you what was going on, I thought it was better not telling you until I was sure what was happening. I don’t want you to leave.”

Bea dropped her head resting it on Allies shoulder.

“I don’t want to leave, I don’t know why I even said that.”

“You’re staying then?”

“You trying to get rid of me now?” Allie managed a giggle as she was wiping her eyes.

“Never.”

“You know Franky’s waiting for us in the car park, she’ll be coming to find us soon if we stay here much longer.”

Bea let go of Allie standing up slowly and wiping her eyes, she moved so she was standing infront of her extending her hand Allie taking it as she helped her up pulling her in and wrapping her arms round her, resting her forehead against Allies.

“I shouldn’t have walked out like that, I just couldn’t stand the thought of you leaving.”

“I wouldn’t have gone really, but you should have told me about what was happening.”

“I know, if I promise not to keep anything from you again will you promise not to say you’re leaving again?”

“I’ll have to think about that,” Allie giggled.

Bea pulled her head back to look at Allie before pulling her in to a slow meaningful kiss. Neither of them noticing that Franky had made her way over to where they were, before clearing her throat.

“As much as I don’t mind waiting for you two we need to get going.”

Breaking apart they both turned to look at Franky, Bea speaking first.

“And what’s the rush?”

“We need to go to the office, Will and Matt are meeting us there, you buggered off and Matt needed to update us all, only someone decided to act like a stroppy teenager and take off.”

“Yer, about that.”

“Red, leave it, as long as you two are ok now can we just get going?”

Bea and Allie both nodded following Franky back down the beach hand in hand to the car park, all three of them getting in the car heading for the office. Arriving back at the office they went in, Liz smiling when she saw Bea and Allie still holding hands.

“Will and Matt are in your office love.”

Franky walked past them, grabbing a coffee and walking into Beas office, Bea turning to face Allie,

“You ready to hear whatever they have to tell us?”

“As long as your with me I’m ready for anything.”

Still holding hands they walked into Beas office, no idea what to expect.

\------------------------------

“We’ve been doing surveillance on Tina Mercado, along with plenty of other dodgy dealings we now have evidence that she is involved with supplying Jake Stewart with a large quantity of drugs, and after convincing another guard to keep an eye on him we are aware of how he is getting the drugs into the prison.”

“So that solves the Tina problem and the prison guard, doesn’t solve the Harry problem does it?”

“I’m just getting to that Bea, if you’ll let me finish.”

Bea just looked at him and nodded.

“Jake Stewart is taking the drugs in, but its Harry that is selling them to the other inmates, got quite the little enterprise going by all accounts, but he’s getting sloppy. By the end of next week we should have all we need to take all three of them down. That will cause Harry more than a few problems, his mind is going to be on a lot more than how he can get at you or Allie.”

“You think he will forget about us? I can assure you he won’t.”

“Maybe not, but he won’t be in a position to try anything for a while. I have to get going now, but if you need anything let Will know and I’ll be in touch.”

Matt got up leaving the office. They all sat there for a few minutes before Will broke the silence.

“I think you should take next week off Allie, and hear me out before you say anything, it’ll be better if you and Bea are together, when a cop says they’ll have enough by the end of the week it just means they are playing it safe anything could happen and I’d feel better if you were together.”

  
“But I don’t want to let you down, you took a chance on me.”

“And you have done nothing to make me regret that, I just need to know that you are both safe, and I think as long as you are together your safer, as soon as we know this is over you can come back to work, Kaz isn’t the one you need to watch out for, not now, but Tina Mercado is a whole other story.”

“Will’s right ya know, and I think we should close the office next week, we don’t have anything on that we can’t do from home.”

“Yer, I guess you’re right Franky, but we have to stay in touch.”

“Course, I wouldn’t want it any other way Red.”

“So that’s settled then, we’ll close up now for the week, I’ll go and let Liz know, Will can you drop us back at the bar, left the bloody car there didn’t I when I….”

“Acted like a brat!”

“Thank you Franky.”

“Yer, no problem.”

They left the office finding Liz reading a magazine and sipping on a coffee.

“Liz, you wouldn’t mind having the week off would you?”

“No, there’s not a problem is there love?”

Bea explained the situation and Liz agreed that it was probably for the best. Bea and Allie went with Will to collect her car leaving Franky and Liz to lock up.

\------------------------------

When they arrived home Bea didn’t feel like cooking so they decided to order pizza, Allie went for a quick shower while they waited for it to be delivered deciding that she would put pyjamas on instead of getting dressed again. The pizza arrived five minutes after Allie wondered back downstairs finding Bea sat on the sofa flopping down next to her and cuddling up to her. Once the pizza had been delivered and they had eaten Bea went for a shower choosing to throw on a baggy t shirt and sweats before returning to the sofa and cuddling up to Allie deciding to watch a movie but not really paying much attention to it getting more caught up in each other before Bea dragged Allie off to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting another chapter, I might get it posted today.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been another busy Wednesday for me so I've actually surprised myself that I got this chapter finished.

Allie was the first to wake up, she pulled herself up to rest on one elbow looking down at Bea she couldn’t help but wonder how she ended up here, she couldn’t believe that someone so beautiful would ever in a million years take a chance on her, but here she was laying next to the most gorgeous woman she had ever seen in her life, she’d taken a chance on her, stayed with her when she could have just taken her back to Kaz like she guessed she should have done. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed Bea was awake.

“Is this payback?”

“Huh, payback, for what?”

“You were staring, is it payback for me staring at you?”

“God you remember me calling you out at the hotel for staring at me?”

“Yer, I do, and you were right.”

“I knew you weren’t just thinking.”

“I wasn’t going to admit it was I?”

“Err, ya just did.”

Bea lifted her head off the pillow capturing Allie’s lips in a loving kiss.

“So, we have to stay home whatever are we going to do for a whole week?”

“Well we could just stay in bed.”

“You’d love that wouldn’t ya?”

“I wouldn’t say no, but don’t we need to go shopping?”

“All of sudden my little Alliecat is becoming all domesticated?”

“Alliecat?”

“Yer, don’t you like it?”

Allie thought for a second before grinning.

“It sounds perfect.”

“Have I told you recently how much I love you?”

“I can’t remember but I’ll never get tired of hearing it because I love you too, more than anything.”

“You do?”

“I do,”

“Sounds serious,”

  
“Oh it is,”

“Want to show me how serious?”

Allie ran her hand up Bea’s arm, over her shoulder before resting it on the back of her neck pulling her in to a heated kiss before softly pushing her back against the bed and straddling her.

“Oh I think I’m going to definitely show you how serious I am.”

Allie leaned down kissing her softly on the lips before kissing along her jaw and down her neck stopping at her pulse point to gently suck and kiss it, before kissing along her shoulder and down her chest stopping when she got to her left breast kissing it gently, Bea’s phone at that very moment started ringing,

“Ignore it, they’ll take the hint when I don’t answer.”

Allie groaned, “kinda killed the mood babe,”

“Only for a second it’s stopped now, so get back here.”

It started ringing again, Bea reached over and grabbed it mumbling under her breath before answering rather abruptly.

“What?”

“Hey Red, shit, did I interrupt something?”

“Yer, something.”

“Sorry…..not sorry.”

“What do you want Franky?”

“Oh yer, Gidge wants to know if you and blondie are coming over for lunch?”

“And ya had to phone at this time in a morning?”

“Well yer, didn’t think you’d actually be busy with blondie.”

“Fuck off Franky.”

“So how far did ya get?”

“Not far enough!”

“Oooh, tell me more.”

“No way……I’ll ask Allie and I’ll let ya know, ok?”

“Ok, well don’t take too long….later Red.”

“Bye.”

Bea threw her phone down.

“So I’m guessing that was Franky.”

“How did you ever guess?”

“What did she want?”

“She said Bridget wants us to go over for lunch, so what do you think?”

“I’ll do anything you want to do,”

“Well I wanted to do you, but someone’s ruined that…..I guess we should go really.”

“So that’s settled then, you call her back, I’m going for a shower, you could always join me when you’ve finished.”

Bea grabbed her phone calling Franky back letting her know that they would be over at one, hanging up she jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom. Allie had her back to the shower enclosure door, Bea slipped in unnoticed as Allie was just standing under the shower allowing the water to cascade over her body, Bea wrapped her arms around her waist pulling her closer and planting soft kisses on her shoulder.

“Mmmm, I didn’t think you were actually coming.”

“I’m not, but you will be.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?”

“Take it however you want to.”

Bea spun Allie around pushing her up against the tiled wall attacking her neck with her lips and her tongue, before moving lower kissing down her chest bringing one hand round to caress her right breast, moving her head lower to suck her already erect left nipple being rewarding with a moan. Bea’s other hand slowly creeping round from her back caressing her down her side and over her hip before slowly finding its way to the back of her thigh to lift Allies leg and wrap it around her own hip before trailing her way back to Allie’s wet folds running a finger gently over her clit.

“Fuck, Bea…..please.”

Sliding her finger easily down to her entrance and slowly entering her, finding Allie so ready she pulled out adding another finger thrusting in and out faster, flicking her clit with her thumb. She could feel Allie slowly starting to slide down the wall as she was almost unable to hold herself up, Bea removing her hand from her breast to snake it round her waist to help keep her upright, still thrusting in and out of faster.

“Baby…..I’m…..soooo……”

Allie’s orgasm ripped through her like a tidal wave, Bea helped her ride it out before removing her fingers and snaking her arm around Allie’s waist to hold her up. Her lips connecting once more with Allie’s neck.

“Fuck Bea, where did that come from?”

“You invited me, and I did say I wanted to do you,” she smirked.

“Fuck, what was I doing?”

“Think you were meant to be having a shower.”

“Oh that can wait, I need to feel you so bad.”

45 minutes later they finally had both showered and were getting dressed, deciding to go to a coffee shop for a late breakfast before going to the supermarket. After doing that it was almost time to set off to Franky and Bridget’s for lunch.

\-------------------------------

After lunch the four of them sat around in the living room the conversation flowing surprisingly easily after the week they had just had. None of them really wanted to talk about the situation but Franky was worried about Bea.

“Any idea why the dickhead would get involved with selling drugs?”

“He always thought he was better than everyone else you know that Franky, maybe it’s how he feels like he’s still got power.”

“Oh yer, sounds like him.”

“You think they can get this sorted out by the end of next week?”

“I fucking hope so, not looking forward to being home all day, at least you’ve got blondie to take your mind off it, Gidge still has to go to work.”

“You can come over anytime Franky, you know that.”

“Oh yer, and listen to you two getting ya fuck on, thanks but no thanks.”

“Oh poor Franky,” Allie giggled.

“So, this morning Red.”

“What?”

“What exactly were you up to.”

“Nothing, you decided to call.”

“And after?”

Bea couldn’t help the blush that crept over her cheeks.

“Franky, leave Bea alone, or else!”

“Gidge…….ya spoil all my fun.”

Another hour passed before Bea decided that it was time to leave, Franky tried to protest bur Allie had agreed with Bea saying that they really didn’t want to outstay their welcome. Franky walked them to the car.

“Call me tomorrow yer, least then I can’t ruin the moment.”

“I’m sure you could find a way to ruin any moment Franky,” Allie said with a smirk.

“I’m hurt blondie,”

“You’ll live.”

“Right, text me when ya get home, stay safe you two.”

“We will now get ya arse back inside before Bridget sends out a search party for you.”

Franky headed back inside, waiting at the front door for Bea to drive away. Once they arrived home Bea texted Franky to let her know they were home while Allie got them both a beer before they settled down for the rest of the day on the sofa, cuddled up together half watching the tv, both their minds wondering if it really would take a week to resolve the Tina, Jake and Harry situation, and both hoping that it would be over quickly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll start writing another chapter tomorrow, hoping I can find more time to write than I had today.


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will there be any good news today?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woke up really early and rattled this chapter off pretty quickly.
> 
> I only just realised that I had left chapter 31 as a draft chapter, I have sorted it out now.....sorry don't know where my head was.

The next few days passed uneventfully, Bea and Allie had spent most of it either in bed or just lazing around the house, Bea was getting bored and even Allie was becoming a little restless, not that they weren’t enjoying being together all the time, it was very far from it, Allie missed being at the bar, she enjoyed joking with the customers and Bea just missed going to the office, she enjoyed her chats with Liz and was even beginning to miss Franky’s teasing. They were sitting outside in the garden enjoying the peace and quiet.

“Babe, I was thinking.”

“What about?”

“About us.”

Bea looked over at Allie with a raised eyebrow

“Anything I need to know?”

  
“What, no, nothing serious, it’s just I know we’re both getting fed up being at home all the time, so why don’t we invite Franky, Liz and the others round?”

“Guess we could do that, what did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know, thought we could think of something together.”

“Well I can think of something we could do right now that doesn’t require anyone but us.”

“Oh I bet you can, but right now I need a drink, want anything?”

“Only you to hurry up and come back.”

Allie went into the house to get a bottle of water for them both on her way back the phone started ringing.

“Hello.”

“Allie, its Will, are you both at home?”

“Yes, is something the wrong?”

“No, quite the opposite, I’ve just got to call Franky and then I’ll be over with Matt.”

“Sure, I’ll let Bea know, see you soon.”

Allie went to the back door.

“Babe Will and Matt are coming over.”

“Huh, do you know why?”

“No, Will said he had to call Franky then they were coming over.”

“Guess that means they have news, shit, what if it’s bad.”

Bea stood up walking towards the house, grabbing Allies hand she dragged her through to the lounge, she sat on the sofa pulling Allie down into her lap.

“Err, babe, what are you doing?”

“Nothing, but if I keep you sat here with me like this I might be able to stay calm.”

“And you might get worked up.” She winked.

“I’m willing to take that chance if you are, I hate not knowing whats going on.”

“I know babe, but we shouldn’t have to wait long.”

They stayed sat together like that holding each other for fifteen minutes before there was a knock on the door. Allie pried herself away from Bea who was still unwilling to let her go.

“Babe, really, one of us has to answer the door.”

“Yes but I don’t want to let you go.”

“I’ll be right back, I promise.”

Bea gave in and let her go and Allie opened the door finding Franky standing there a huge grin on her face.

“Fuck sake blondie, you two always keep me waiting.”

“What can I say, I’m just irresistible,” Allie giggled as she stepped out of the way allowing Franky to enter, closing the door behind her and going back to sit next to Bea who pulled her into her lap.

“Put her down will ya Red.”

“Oh what’s up Franky, missing Bridget?”

“Fuck you, at least we know how to control ourselves in front of company.”

“Really?”

“What?”

“I seem to remember one night at the bar not long after you got together you had your hand stuck up Bridget’s skirt.”

“Fuck you remember that?”

Franky threw her head back against the chair just as there was another knock at the door.

“Franky will you get that?”

“Anything, having to watch you two is sickening.”

Franky was greeted at the door by a smiling Will and equally happy looking Matt.

“Bea and Allie are here aren’t they?”

“Yer, makes me want to gag their all loved up in here.”

Will walked in before Franky noticed a very worried looking Kaz standing to the side of Matt. Franky grabbed Matts arm,

“You think her being here is a good idea?”

“She is involved, I need to inform you all together.”

  
“Na, not happening, not unless you talk to Bea first, can’t see her being happy her being here, she was trying to split her and Allie up.”

Kaz nervously spoke not making any eye contact with Franky.

“I don’t really want to be here, and I understand if Bea hates me after everything I put them through, but I want to apologise if she’ll let me.”

“Really?”

“I’ll stay out here, I don’t want to cause any trouble.” Kaz walked back down the drive and went and sat in her car.

“So are you going to let me in?”

“Yer I guess.”

Franky let Matt in closing the door and following him back to the lounge. After taking a seat Matt was the first to speak.

“Bea, Kaz is outside, we really should have her here.”

“Are you fucking kidding me, you want her here after everything she tried to do,” Allie spat.

“Allie, it’s ok, she was doing what she thought was right at the time.”

“But Bea, she tried to split us up.”

“I know, but it didn’t work did it?”

“No, but….”

“No buts, come on let me get up.”

Allie grumbled but stood up allowing Bea to get up.

“I’ll go and talk to her,” Bea said before walking out of the house.

She walked down the drive stopping at the passenger side of Kaz’s car, taking a couple of deep breaths before opening the door and getting in.

“Bea!”

“It’s ok, I’m not going to have a go at you, what would that solve?”

“I’m sorry, if I’d have known what was going on I would have talked to you.”

“Well we can’t change what happened, I can’t pretend that I’m not angry, you should have said something, and I can’t promise that Allie won’t try to punch you again but I think you should come in, just let me get Allie to settle down before she sees you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yer, now come on, when we go in just wait in the hall for a minute, I’ll let you know when it’s safe.”

“Don’t think I want another punch, the first two hurt like a bitch.”

Kaz followed Bea into the house and hung back in the hallway. Bea pulled Allie up from where she was sitting before she sat back down pulling Allie into her lap and wrapping her arms around her feeling her relax into her resting her head on Bea’s shoulder.

“You can come in now Kaz.”

Allie tried to protest and tried to wriggle free from Bea but she was having none of it keeping her arms wrapped round her an planting a loving kiss on her lips, Allie calming down instantly. Kaz watched on, she could hardly believe how quickly Bea could calm Allie.

“Kaz, please take a seat, I promise this one won’t give you any trouble.”

Matt cleared his threat and stood up.

“This morning, we arrested both Jake Stewart and Tina Mercado, Stewart is still not saying anything but we have more than enough evidence against him to convict him. Mercado on the other hand is singing like a canary, she’s given up her own supplier as well as telling us about Stewart and everything she knows that Harry has been doing. We will be interviewing Harry (looking at his watch) round about now actually, he won’t be able to do anything to either of you Bea I can assure you of that, he’ll be in the slot for at least a month. After that, well he’ll have to watch his back when he’s back in general, he was by far the biggest supplier in the whole prison.”

“So at least for now this over?” A look of relief washing over Bea’s face.

“Pretty much yes.”

“You will be informed when the court case will take place, but that really only involves Kaz, so if you have no other questions I think it’s time myself and Will left you to enjoy the rest of your day.”

Will nodded and stood up,

“See you back at work on Monday Allie,”

“I can come back tomorrow.”

“No, you enjoy the rest of the week, your shifts are covered.”

Allie was surprised but didn’t argue, knowing that at least now they weren’t looking over their shoulders every time they left the house.

Franky stood up to leave,

“So that’s it then? Thank fuck that’s over.”

  
“Franky, Allie thought we should have everyone round, how does tomorrow sound to you?”

“Sounds good Red, what time?”

“Say about 7pm as long as that’s alright with Bridget.”

“Yer should be, see ya both tomorrow then.”

Franky left leaving only Kaz who was sat looking at her feet trying to get the courage to speak.

“Allie, I never wanted any of this.”

“No course not, you could have said something, could have told us, instead you had to play stupid games, how did you think that made me feel, trying to explain something to Bea that never happened and never would.”

“I know, I fucked up, I’m sorry and I miss having you around, but today, seeing you together made me realise that you’re happy, I hoped that it wouldn’t be like it was before for you, but now I know it won’t.”

Kaz looked at Bea,

“Look after her, and if you ever need anything just give me a call.”

She stood up,to leave, Bea speaking up before Allie could say anything.

“Why don’t you stay for lunch?”

“I couldn’t, Allie doesn't want me here.”

“Well I think you both need to talk, that we should all talk, you were there for her when she needed you and it’s about time we talked.”

“Only if you’re sure.”

“I am, you’re ok with that aren’t you babe?”

“I guess, at least I won’t try to punch her again, hurt my fucking hand.” She laughed.

\------------------------------

Bea and Allie went to the kitchen to make a start on lunch, deciding that a salad would be quicker and neither of them could be bothered to cook.

“Why did you ask her to stay?”

“Because I think you need to talk, she was important to you, and you have to know that she really only wants you to be happy.”

“I am, as long as I’m with you I’m happy.”

“I know, so am I, but look at it this way, how do you think I would feel if Debbie didn’t want to speak to me again?”

Allie thought for a while,

“I get it, I do miss her a little.”

“I know you do, and I don’t want you to regret shutting her out, give her another chance.”

When lunch was ready Bea called Kaz through to the kitchen, they all sat down, Bea doing most of the talking to begin with but Allie soon joining in, by the time they had finished lunch they were all laughing, mainly at Allie’s expense. Before Kaz left they asked her if she would come over the next day around 7 for a get together, and she agreed after Allie said everything would be fine. Kaz left, leaving Bea and Allie to plan what they were going to do the following evening. Bea also phoning Liz, Maxine and Boomer inviting them over to celebrate their good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may get another chapter finished today.


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bea gets a surprise.

The next morning neither of them wanted to get up, the prospect of a busy day doing nothing for their enthusiasm.

“Do we really have to get up?”

“Unfortunately we do, it was your idea to have everyone round remember?”

“Yer, I know, should learn to keep my mouth shut,” Allie groaned.

“We haven’t even decided what to make for dinner yet, any suggestions?”

“Haven’t got any vegetarians lurking amongst them have we?”

“No, why?”

“So then why don’t we do a roast dinner?”

“God, it’s a good thing Deb isn’t here, we’d have to make enough for an army if she was.”

“So Debbie likes roast dinners?”

“Huh huh, it’s her favourite, after pizza naturally.”

“Good to know.”

“Why?”

“Well when she comes home for the holidays at least I’ll have an idea what to cook.”

“Babe you could put anything in front of her, she’d eat it, she either has a bottomless stomach or hollow legs.” They both laughed.

“Guess we really should get up then, got some shopping to do.”

“Yer we have, I better send Deb a text, I need to phone her.”

“Didn’t she phone you a few days ago?”

“Yes, but…..I might have forgotten to tell her something.” Bea looked worried.

“Didn’t you tell her what was going on?”

“Yes and no, I didn’t tell her that Harry was involved, and……I wanted to tell her….that you’d moved in, but I didn’t and I need to sort that out. I know she likes you, I just didn’t know how she would take the us living together thing.”

“You really have to tell her…..if she takes it badly I can move out, it’ll hurt but I don’t want to cause you any problems.”

“I don’t want you to leave.”

“And I don’t want to go but if I have to I will.”

“I’m just selfish, now I’ve got you here I don’t want to let you go.”

“I know, but get up will ya? I’ll go and make breakfast while you have a shower.”

“Can’t I tempt you to have a shower with me?”

“You could but that won’t get breakfast or the shopping for tonight done will it?”

“Yer, you’re right, I’m getting up.”

Allie went to make a start on breakfast, Bea picked her phone up sending a quick text to Debbie asking her to let her know what time was best for her to call, before going for a shower.

\-------------------------------

Franky had been keeping an eye on the time all morning, and now she needed to head to the airport to pick Debbie up. She’d known that something was wrong when she’d last spoken to her mum but didn’t want to push her, instead deciding to phone Franky. She hadn’t wanted to go behind her mums back but she was worried, Franky had eventually told her what had happened and what was going to happen, as soon as they had heard about the arrests she had phoned Debbie and told her knowing that Bea wouldn’t do it. As soon as she’d heard she’d booked a flight back to Melbourne for the next morning, she had no lectures for the rest of the week and was up to date with her course work. Franky had agreed to pick her up and was happy to let her stay round at her and Bridget’s until it was time to go over to Bea’s for dinner because Debbie had wanted to surprise her mum and Allie. Bea might not have told her that Allie had moved in, she didn’t need to, Debbie had worked it out, maybe the fact that Allie was always answering her mum’s phone early in a morning and late at night was the biggest give away.

“Franky,” Debbie squealed as she went running towards her.

“Hey Deb, good to see ya, how’s everything?”

“Uni’s great, I’ve made loads of new friends, can we just get out of here?”

“Yer course we can.”

They headed to Franky’s car, throwing her bag on the back seat and heading off to Franky’s.

“So, I need to ask you something and I want a straight answer.”

“Go on.”

“Has Allie finally moved in with mum?”

“Hasn’t she told ya?”

“No, but Allie is always answering mum’s phone, I mean like at 7 in the morning and turned midnight, I know she stayed over a lot, but come on tell me.”

“Ok, but you didn’t hear this from me, yer she’s moved in, does that bother you?”

“No, it might be a bit strange her being there all the time when I’m home but it doesn’t bother me, she’s good for mum.”

“Yer she is, if you thought she was happy before ya should see her now since,….well ya know…..”

“Franky, gross, I don’t even want to think about that, she is my mum ya know.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”

Just then Debbie’s phone beeped, a text from Bea.

**Deb, let me know when the best time is to ring you, love you x**

“What’s up Deb?”

“Mum wants to phone me,”

“Well we’re here now, I’ll stay out ya way so she doesn’t know ya here.”

“Thanks Franky, you’re the best.”

"Yer ya better believe it kid."

Debbie took her bag to the spare room and sent a text back to Bea.

**Call me anytime, I’ve got no lectures today, love you too x**

A minute later her phone rang.

  
“Mum, how are you?”

“Hey, Deb I’m fine, everything’s fine.”

“You don’t sound too sure mum.”

“It’s just I need to tell you something and…..I’m not sure how you’re going to take it.”

“Is it about you and Allie?”

“Err, yes.”

“Ok mum listen, I’m not stupid, she answers your phone all the time, has she finally moved in?”

“Yer….she has, does that bother you?”

“No, it might be strange when I come home, why’d it take so long?”

“What?”

“Well I don’t know why you let her move in with Boomer, I need to go mum, got some things to do, love you.”

“To the moon and back baby.”

Debbie smiled before returning to the living room to find Franky.

“Everything ok kiddo?”

“Yes, she finally told me that Allie’s moved in, so ya don’t have to worry now about telling me.”

“Thank god for that.”

\------------------------------

Bea made her way downstairs to the smell of fresh coffee and bacon and eggs. Allie had her back to the door waiting on the toast as she crept up behind her wrapping her arms around her waist and resting her chin on her shoulder.

“Have I told you this morning just how much I love you?”

“I think ya just did.”

“I told Deb about you moving in.”

“Oh!”

“Hey, you don’t have to worry she's fine with it, she actually said she didn’t know why I let you move in with Boomer.”

  
“She did?”

“Huh huh, she did.”

“Right, sit down will ya breakfasts ready.”

“Yes boss,” Bea replied laughing.

Sitting down together at the kitchen table they ate breakfast planning the rest of the day ahead, Allie trying to eat and write a shopping list at the same time. After doing the dishes they set off for the supermarket. They picked up everything they needed as well as some more beer and a couple of bottles of wine and returned home to start preparing the evenings dinner. Bea was nervous about having Kaz round, hoping that Allie wouldn’t get mad at her, once everything was prepared they had a sandwich Bea deciding she needed a beer with hers, Allie opting for a cup of tea. They sat on the sofa for an hour before returning to the kitchen. Before they knew it it was 5:30pm.

“Allie why don’t you go for a shower first?”

“Argh, can’t we just shower together?”

“Na, not now, you can’t be trusted to behave yourself.”

“Me, if I remember correctly you started it the last time we were in the shower.”

“And if I remember correctly you invited me to have a shower with you, it’s not my fault if you just look so damn sexy when you’re in shower and I can’t resist you.”

“Is that so.”

“Just go and have a shower already will ya or we’ll never be ready for seven.”

“Ok, I’m going,” she said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.”

Bea couldn’t help but laugh, “I’ll get you later,” she thought to herself.

When Allie had finished in the shower she shouted down to Bea to let her know the bathroom was free before starting to get changed. Deciding on light blue skinny jeans and a white top. She was just finishing applying her make up when Bea entered the bedroom.

“Well don’t you look just good enough to eat?”

“Maybe, but I gave you the chance earlier and you turned me down.”

“Yer, I remember, you don’t have to remind me.”

Bea disappeared into the bathroom to shower, when she had finished and was getting ready she looked at the time, 6:40pm. She rushed around to get changed pulling on black skinny jeans and a white shirt, leaving the top three buttons open on purpose, applying some light makeup and running downstairs just as there was a knock on the door.

  
“It’s ok babe, I’ll get it,” she shouted through to the kitchen.

“You better, I’m a bit busy in here.”

Bea opened the door to be greeted by a pair of smiling faces that belonged to Maxine and Boomer.

“Bea hon, its great to see you.”

“Maxi, I’ve missed you, and you too Booms, come in won’t ya.”

“Oi, Bea, what ya done with blondie?”

“I’m in the kitchen Booms,” Allie shouted through.

“Can I get you both a drink?”

Boomer asking for a beer and Maxine a glass of wine, Bea was getting the drinks when there was another knock on the door. Maxine shouted through that she would get it, opening the door to Franky and Bridget.

“Maxi, they got ya on door duty?”

“Not really, Bea’s getting some drinks.”

Franky went straight to the kitchen handing over two bottles of wine that she had brought with her before helping herself to a beer and getting Bridget a glass of wine.  
Liz arrived at the same time as Kaz, Bea let them both in asking what they wanted to drink, and returned to the kitchen to get them and to let Allie know that Kaz was there.

“I don’t know what to say to her Bea, I can’t stop thinking about her trying to split us up.”

“I know, I thought we got past all that yesterday though, but you know it wasn’t all on her, give her a chance, for me, please.”

“Ok, I’ll try to play nice.”

Bea gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before taking her hand and leading her through to the lounge.  
Bea chatted quite happily with everyone for the next five minutes before returning to the kitchen closely followed by Allie. Everyone had retreated to the dining room tucking into the meal that they had made when there was another knock on the door. Bea looked confused, even more so when Franky shot up out of her chair and almost ran to the door. Franky returned almost as soon as she left.

“Who was that?”

“SURPRISE!” Debbie shouted out.

“Deb!” Bea gasped, as she got up, from the table walking over to Debbie and bringing her into a bone crushing hug.

“How did you get here?”

“On a plane, it was the quickest option.”

“Sit down, I’ll get you a plate.”

“I can do it, you stay here babe,”

“No, you and mum both stay here, I can get my own food, as long as there’s plenty left.”

“Oh yer Deb, I think Allie cooked too much, hey did she know you were coming back?”

“No, I promise, the only person who knew I was here was Franky.”

“Oh, I should have known Franky was involved,”

“Hey in my defence if you had told Deb everything in the first place she wouldn’t have called me.”

“Mum you know she’s right, and it took you until this morning to tell me Allie had moved in, what would you have done if I had turned up and I didn’t know?”

“She’s got ya there babe.”

“Oh so now you and Deb are ganging up on me are you?”

“No, but she has a point.”

The rest of the evening went well, Franky and Debbie insisting that they did the dishes while everyone else chatted in the lounge with a few more drinks. It was almost midnight before everyone had gone home, Allie didn’t say much to Kaz but she promised to call her in a couple of days before she left.

“I’m off to bed now mum,”

“Ok, we’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight mum, goodnight Allie, oh and mum, remember I’m in the house will ya?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think you can work it out for yourself,” with that Debbie headed up to bed leaving a confused looking Bea behind.

“Babe, I think she was asking us to keep the noise down.”Allie said with a smirk.

“What!”

“Well, you can be a bit loud sometimes.”

“Oh like I’m the only one?”

“Not saying that at all babe,” Allie said with a yawn.

“I think we should be going to bed.”

“Yer I think you might be right, I’m so tired, it has been a busy day.”

“Go on then, you go up, I’ll turn the lights off and lock up and I’ll be right behind you.”

By the time Bea got upstairs Allie was in bed and already asleep, Bea got ready for bed and slipped in beside her, Allie automatically gravitating towards her resting her arm over her stomach and her head on her chest, a smile spreading across Bea’s face as she put an arm round Allie and drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have another chapter for you all tomorrow.


	34. Chapter 34

Debbie was the first one awake the next morning, getting up she decided to shower and get dressed hoping not to disturb her mum and Allie. She wanted to make breakfast for them all deciding on pancakes she put the coffee on and turned her attention to making the pancakes, once they were ready she went upstairs knocking on her mum’s bedroom door and getting no response she knocked again, hearing nothing she opened the door and peeked in seeing them both still fast asleep cuddled up together, she couldn’t help but smile thinking how adorable they looked. She was happy that her mum had found someone that made her happy. Now her only problem was how to wake them both up, she thought for a second then walked into the bedroom and round to the side of the bed before launching herself across the pair of them, both of them waking up instantly.

“What the…..Deb, what are you doing?”

“I made breakfast for us all, so get up before it gets cold.”

“Getting up would be a lot easier if you got off us,” Allie giggled.

“Oh yer, just get up already will ya, if you don’t I can’t promise I won’t eat everything cos I’m starving.”

“Nothing’s changed then.”

Debbie got off the bed and left the room shouting at them to hurry up as she was halfway down the stairs.

“I suppose we better get up before she eats everything she’s gone to the trouble of making,”

“I wouldn’t care if she did, I’ve got everything I want right here.”

“Is that right?”

“You know it.”

“As much as I would love to stay here, we better get up.”

  
“Yer, I know.”

They eventually pried themselves from the bed and went to the kitchen, sitting at the table with Debbie after she passed them both a plate of pancakes and a cup of coffee. They chatted happily together before Bea said she was going for a shower leaving Debbie and Allie alone. They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither of them sure what to say.

“How’s everything going at uni?”Allie asked nervously.

“Great, I’m enjoying my course and I’ve made a lot of friends, we have parties every other weekend, just don’t tell mum.”

Allie laughed, “I’m sure she’d understand, you’re only young once right?”

“I guess, so how long were you actually at Boomers for?”

“Officially, about two weeks, unofficially about four nights.”

“I can’t work out what she was thinking packing you off to Boomers, it was obvious from that first night you stayed here she wanted you to stay.”

“I don’t know about that, I don’t think she knew what she wanted.”

“And what did you want?”

“Honestly, I just wanted to be wherever your mum was, not that I was about to tell her, thought she would have run for the hills if I had.”

Neither of them had noticed that Bea was leaning against the kitchen door frame listening to them, only catching the last part of the conversation. When she spoke they both jumped.

“Actually I wouldn’t have run for the hills, maybe the bottom of the street before I turned back.”

“Jesus Bea, don’t sneak up on us like that.”

“Maybe you two shouldn’t be talking about me then.”

“Why not? I think you’ll find you’re my favourite subject.”

Bea blushed the colour of her hair crossing the kitchen and resting her forehead on Allies shoulder before whispering in her ear,“And your always going to be my favourite subject.” Kissing Allie on the cheek then taking a seat beside her.

“Think I need a shower, and I definitely need to get dressed,” Allie said, before kissing Bea on the cheek and getting up.

Once Allie had gone Bea decided that now was probably the best time to speak to Debbie.

  
“How much has Franky told you?”

“About what?”

“About everything that’s been going on.”

“Before I tell you mum you have to remember that you were less than forthcoming when I asked you what was wrong.”

Bea just nodded, knowing that she hadn’t told her everything, especially about how Harry was involved, he was still her dad when all was said and done.

“She told me about Kaz trying to split you and Allie up and about that drug dealer and the prison guard, can’t say she went into too much detail.”

“So you don’t know that it was your dad who was behind it?”

“That prick! Sorry mum, but he is, what did he do?”

Bea explained the whole thing to Debbie, not leaving anything out this time.

“So he’s going to get more prison time then?”

“It looks that way, I never thought he would get into selling drugs, he might not get an easy ride in prison now he can’t get the drugs in.”

“Serves him right, I don’t care what happens to him.”

“He is still your dad Deb.”

“Na, he helped you to have me, that was the only thing he ever did. Can’t call that a dad, more like a sperm donor.”

Just then Allie walked back into the kitchen with a very puzzled look on her face after hearing only the last part of Debbie’s comment. Pouring herself another coffee before turning and leaning back against the kitchen counter her gaze landing on Bea instantly.  
Debbie burst out laughing as soon as she looked at Allie.

“Oh my god your face.”

“What?”

“We were talking about the prick, and you walked in just as I said he was a sperm donor.”

Bea shuck her head but said nothing.

“Oh, right, soooo, what are we doing for the rest of the day?”

Bea shrugged, “haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“Debbie, any ideas?”

  
“I say we just hang around the house watching movies and eating junk.”

“Works for me, better go and buy the junk food though.”

“What are we waiting for then, come on.”

\------------------------------

After shopping for more junk food than the three of them could possibly eat they spent the rest of the day lounging around, taking it in turns to choose a movie. Ordering a takeaway for dinner because Debbie pointed out that hanging around the house being lazy all day did not require cooking and dirty dishes. Bea had objected saying that Debbie should be having home cooked meals since she was home but Allie and Debbie had ganged up on her her pulling sad puppy dog faces and she gave in. “Such a push over,” Allie had thought to herself.

Halfway through the evening both Bea and Allie had fallen asleep and Debbie had called Franky arranging to meet at Wills bar the following evening, Franky agreeing to call everyone else so that her mum didn’t find out what she was up to. Debbie wanted to spend a little more time with everyone before she left on Sunday afternoon and thought that a night out would be fun. And since she wasn’t planning on going home again before Christmas she wanted to have a night out with her mum. Debbie had watched another movie and they were still asleep so she decided to wake them up, shaking Bea lightly she woke Allie up instead.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s getting late, I was trying to wake mum up.”

“I’ll wake her up if you want to go to bed.”

“Yer, you’ll probably have more luck than me, see you in the morning.”

“Night Debbie.”

It seemed that Bea was dead to the world, it took Allie another five minutes to wake her up, and then another ten to convince her that they needed to go to bed, she sent her up to bed and she locked up before going up herself, finding Bea already in bed fast asleep, it seemed that lazing around all day just made Bea tired, Allie got ready for bed and snuggled up to her falling asleep not long after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the next chapter will be much more entertaining.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late for me, I've been in pain all weekend and I couldn't concentrate on writing.

Bea and Allie were woken up the next morning by Debbie bursting into their room two mugs of coffee and toast on a tray announcing that she was going out with friends and that she would be back late afternoon.

“Deb seriously it’s 7am.”

“I’m well aware of the time, I have to go out and you two can’t stay in bed all day, I’ll bring a takeaway home with me for dinner, don’t have a big lunch because I’ll be back at five.”

“What are you up to?”

“Nothing, I’m taking you both out tonight, no arguments so make sure you get your outfits sorted out before I get back.”

“But.”

“No buts, I’ll see you both later.”

Neither of them got a chance to speak, Debbie left the room as quick as she had entered but at least more quietly.

“Babe, what was that all about?”

“I have no bloody idea.”

They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“Is it always going to be like this when Debbie’s at home?”

“God, I hope not!”

“Since she went to all this effort I think the least we can do is eat our breakfast.”

“Toast is hardly a great effort ya know.”

“Yer but it’s the thought that counts.”

“So now your taking Debs side?” Bea pouted.

“As if I would.”

“Don’t believe ya.”

“Is that so.”

Allie turned on her side and pulled herself up onto her elbow, leaning over she kissed Bea on the cheek.

“Still don’t believe ya.”

Allie leaned over again this time capturing her lips in a very heated kiss, Bea brought her hand up to the back of her neck pulling her in closer, Allie was the first to pull away.

“Do you believe me now?”

“Think I need a little more convincing.”

  
Three hours later the tray was still sat on the bed side table exactly how Debbie had left it, the two of them wrapped around each other totally exhausted.

“Believe me now?”

“Hmmm……..I think I do.”

“You only think?”

“No…..I know I do.”

Two hours later they had both managed to drag themselves out of bed and had showered. Since they hadn’t had anything to eat they were both starving but they didn’t want to eat too much so settled on having a sandwich, Debbie would be home in just over four hours Bea had contemplated texting her to ask what she was picking up but decided against it at the last second.

\------------------------------

4:59pm Debbie came crashing through the front door, walking into the lounge she found her mum and Allie laying on the sofa together fast asleep, she put the pizza boxes down on the coffee table before leaning over the sleeping pair and shaking her mum lightly. Bea dragged her eyes open a little.

“Deb, it’s not five o’clock yet is it?”

“Yep, time to wake up, both of you,”

Debbie disappeared into the kitchen to get some drinks leaving Bea to wake Allie up, when she returned with 3 bottles of water they were both awake.

“Deb we had pizza yesterday.”

“So, everyday can be pizza day.”

They ate the pizzas, Debbie eating more than either of them, before she ushered them both upstairs to get ready, telling them that they had to be ready for 7pm, and if they weren’t ready she would be dragging them both out of the house anyway, even if that meant they we’re naked. Allie had laughed but Bea knew from the look on her face she was serious, taking Allie by the hand she pulled her up the stairs.

“What’s the rush?”

“She does mean it, she really would drag us out of the house naked, you might be up for that but I’m not.”

“Better get in the shower then.”

They both managed to shower and get dressed with five minutes to spare, walking down the stairs together finding Debbie sat on the sofa tapping her foot impatiently.

“You made it on time, good thing I already called for the taxi.”

\------------------------------

Arriving at the bar 25 minutes later Debbie was the first out of the taxi and inside the bar.

“She’s keen, wonder what she’s up to.”

“With Deb it could be anything.”

They walked into the bar hand in hand, it seemed unusually quiet for a Saturday night which they both found a little odd, even more odd there was only Shane behind the bar and Debbie had disappeared. Taking a seat at the bar Bea ordered two beers and they sat chatting with Shane for a while until the door burst open

“Sup bitches, time ta get ya drink on!”

“Boomer!”

“Oh, hey Bea, blondie, where is everyone?”

“Exactly what do you mean by everyone?”

“Errr, well ya know, it is kinda dead in here, yer.”

“That’s what we said, any ideas why it would be so quiet?”

“Me? How would I know?”

“It’s just a little odd you being here, not your normal bar is it?”

Boomer just shrugged, before turning her head to look towards the door when she heard it open seeing a grinning Franky walking in followed by Bridget.

“Red, Deb got ya here then.”

“Obviously if we’re sitting here, so are ya gonna tell me?”

“Tell ya what?”

“Oh I don’t know, how about what we are doing here?”

“Why ya askin’ me? Ya need to ask that daughter of yours.”

“Well I would but I haven’t seen her since we got here.”

The door opened again Maxine, Doreen and Liz walking in closely followed by nervous looking Kaz. Seconds later Debbie and Will appeared from the direction of the office, they were talking quietly, Debbie nodded to Will as he took off to the other end of the bar, Debbie walking over to where Bea and Allie were sitting.

“Ok young lady mind telling us what’s going on?”

“I told you we’re having a night out before I go back to uni tomorrow, I just thought that everyone should be here.”

“You could have just told us instead of sneaking around.”

“It was hardly sneaking, I just got Franky to call everyone, now come on the lot of you follow me.”

Debbie turned on her heels heading for the other end of the bar where Will had gone, everyone else following on behind her except Bea and Allie who chose to finish their drinks first. Bea extracted herself from the bar stool she had been sitting on, Allie spinning herself around Bea held her hand out to her.

“Shall we?”

“Well since Debbie went to all this trouble to get everyone together I guess we should.”

Allie took Beas hand and got off the bar stool. They walked hand in hand towards the other end of the bar being greeted by Boomer holding out two shot glasses, they took them from her both of them downing them. Allie scrunched her face up.

“Bloody hell Boomer, what the hell was that?”

“Ahhh, stop complaining blondie, there’s plenty more where that came from, Will’s put a free bar on for us.”

Debbie wondered over to them, passing them both a beer.

“Come on mum, ya can’t be mad at me, I just wanted to get everyone together, now come on enjoy yourself.”

Liz and Maxine were sat at a table, spotting Bea she waved her over, they walked over Bea taking a seat and pulling Allie into her lap.

“You two look so happy together, I never thought I’d see the day you had a permanent smile on your face love.”

  
“Yer Liz, I am happy, I never thought it was possible.”

Franky and Bridget walked over to join them followed by Boomer with a tray of shots.

“Come on ya light weights, get these down ya necks.”

“Oh god, this is gonna end up messy,” Bea groaned. They all grabbed a glass and downed the contents, Allie pulling another face making Bea laugh.

“It’s not funny, that tastes awful.”

“I’m sorry babe, you just look so cute when you pull a face like that.”

“Oh god, you two are enough to make me sick,” Boomer said making gagging noises.

“I reckon the shots will do that to ya Booms,” Allie laughed.

Debbie got Will to turn the music up, grabbing Boomer they started dancing, much to Maxine’s amusement. Kaz sat at the bar nursing a bottle of beer, unsure why Franky had called and invited her, she would periodically look over to Bea and Allie, they were laughing and joking with everyone, it was obvious to her that Allie was happy and the way they looked at each other she knew they were in love. She was angry at herself for not telling anyone what was going on, she was just about to get up and leave, she hadn’t noticed that Bea and Allie had left the table and were walking towards her, she got off the bar stool and turned around coming face to face with Allie, Bea standing behind her.

“Listen Kaz, this isn’t the right time or place to talk but we need to.”

“Yer we do, you’ve still got my number, give me a call when you’re free, both of you.”

“Your leaving? You don’t have to, we were hoping you would come over and join us.”

“Errr…..are you sure?” She looked directly at Bea who just nodded her head.

“Well we wouldn’t be over here if we weren’t would we?”

“I guess not….ok, I’ll stay a little longer.”

“That’s settled then, we’ll grab some more beers, can’t have ya sitting over here by yourself after Debbie got Franky to call ya.”

Kaz joined them, she felt a little uneasy to begin with but as the night wore on and the drinks flowed she started to relax more, laughing at Boomer and Franky who were more than a little drunk. By the end of the night they were all a little drunk, heading outside to wait for their taxi’s they all said their good nights, Allie promising to call Kaz at some point during the week to arrange a time for them to talk. As soon as they got home Debbie hugged them both and went to bed. Allie flopped down on the sofa pulling Bea with her.

“Do you think I’m doing the right thing talking to Kaz?”

  
“I think you need to hear what she has to say, we both do.”

“I think we need to go to bed.”

“I think you might be right, come on.”

Bea got up from the sofa, turning round and taking hold of both of Allies hands and pulling her up, turning the lights off as they went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping that I can manage to resume writing like I normally do, although I'm still in pain so I'm not keeping my fingers crossed.


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after the night before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thankfully I'm not is as much pain today so I actually managed to get this written pretty quickly.

Debbie woke up the next morning with worst headache she had ever had in her life, dragging herself out of bed and downstairs to the kitchen getting herself a bottle of water and some pain killers she sat at the kitchen table laying her head on her arms and groaning, “I’m never drinking again,” she thought to herself.

Bea and Allie were both awake laying in bed facing each other when they heard Debbie get up.

“Think she has a headache?”

“You can bet on it, she tried too hard to keep up with Booms.”

“How about you?”

“I have a bit of a headache, but it’s not that bad.”

“Snap, I’ve had worse, much worse.”

They lay there for a little longer before deciding that they needed to get up, Debbie was after all returning to uni later that day and Bea wanted to spend a little more time with her before she left. Allie made her way downstairs to make coffee, Bea heading in the direction of the bathroom to shower. Allie looked at a half asleep Debbie and smiled, “we’ve all done that to ourselves,” she thought before walking over to the coffee maker.

“Feeling rough Debbie?”

“Ohhh yer, ya know it, what about you and mum?”

“We didn’t try to outdo Boomer with the shots, got a headache not gonna lie but we’ll be fine after a coffee or two.”

“I’m never drinking with Boomer again, she’s a bad influence.”

Allie couldn’t help but laugh, “yer you think.”

“I’m gonna go lay on the sofa, shout me when the coffees ready.”

Debbie dragged herself away from the table and into the living room. On her way downstairs Bea spotted Debbie on the sofa her hands over her face.

“I hope you don’t drink that much while you’re at uni.”

“Na, never have, and I don’t think I’m going to drink again, well, not for a while anyway.”

“Want anything to eat?”

“No, I’m waiting on Allie letting me know the coffees ready.”

Allie appeared in the kitchen doorway, a mug of coffee in her hand.

“You two talking about me?”

“Na, is the coffee ready yet?”

“Yer, here I brought you a mug, thought you would be better off staying where you are, do you want anything else?”

“No, thanks though, I would have come and got it myself ya know.”

“I know. You hungry babe?”

“A little, think I’ll just have coffee and toast.”

Bea and Allie went into the kitchen leaving Debbie to nurse her hangover. Allie had insisted that Bea sit down and she would make the toast, passing her a mug of coffee she planted a soft kiss on her head before returning her attention to the task in hand. They sat and ate in silence before Allie excused herself to take a shower, Bea washed the dishes before checking the contents of the fridge, it was Sunday after all, their usual day to do the shopping. Allie returned to the kitchen fresh from the shower finding Bea still sat at the table.

“What time is Debbie’s flight?”

“4:30pm, she has plenty of time to recover.”

“So, what’s the plan?”

“We need to go shopping, I love Debbie to bits but have you seen that fridge, it’s like a wasteland, if she could eat it she has.” Bea laughed.

They sat together over another mug of coffee deciding that they would do the shopping then go out for lunch leaving enough time to take Debbie to the airport. Finding Debbie had fallen asleep they quietly made their way out of the house not wanting to disturb her. They were later than normal getting to the supermarket and it was pretty busy, Bea getting a little frustrated when they had to wait in line to pay for longer than she was used to. Allie couldn’t help but laugh at her as they made their way across the car park Bea in a huff because she hated waiting, then making matters worse some random man crashed their now empty shopping trolley into the one Bea was shoving towards the car, she just glared at the man who tried to apologise but she just continued walking towards the car Allie hot on her heels. Opening the boot she began placing the bags inside mumbling to herself about stupid people who don’t look where they are going.

“Babe, seriously calm down, it was an accident.”

“He should have been looking where he was going.”

Putting the last bag in the boot Bea felt Allie wrap her arms around her waist before kissing her on the neck.

“Does it really matter that much?” Allie whispered in her ear as she felt Bea relax in her arms.

Bea spun round looking Allie in the eye before planting a loving kiss against her lips, neither of them noticing that the man who had crashed his shopping trolley into theirs was stood a few cars away from them looking over in their direction.

“I guess it doesn’t matter, let’s go home.”

\------------------------------

Debbie was awake and feeling a little better by the time they got home. They took the shopping bags into the kitchen, neither of them noticing that Debbie was no longer asleep on the sofa. Debbie walked down the stairs bag in hand and went to the kitchen.

“Oh yer, ya buy more food now I’m leaving.”

“It is Sunday Deb, how’s your head anyway?”

“Better, so what’s for lunch?”

“We were going to eat out if that’s ok, but can we just get this put away first?”

“Yer, I guess, but I’m starving here, don’t blame me if I waste away in the next ten minutes and all you find is a pile of clothes on the floor.”

“Such a drama queen,” Allie giggled while putting something in a cupboard. Bea just shook her head.

Twenty minutes later Debbie’s bag was in the boot and they were all back in the car on their way to Debbie’s favourite diner for lunch. Neither Bea or Allie were particularly hungry, Bea ordering a salad and Allie just fries, Debbie on the other hand wanted a double cheese burger and fries with a strawberry milkshake. They ate their food and chatted quite happily, mainly about Debbie’s studies, Allie totally in awe of how Debbie could reel off what she had already learnt in the few weeks she had been there. She was doing a law degree, it had always been a subject that she had found fascinating, but after everything her and Bea had been through with Harry she had become more determined to study law wanting to eventually specialise in family law. They were so caught up in their conversation that they hadn’t noticed the same man from the supermarket enter the diner taking a seat at a table only a few feet away from them, ordering a coffee and watching them.

“Shit, look at the time, we need to get going or you’re going to miss your check in Deb.”

“Mum calm down will ya.”

Bea paid the bill and they left getting to the airport twenty minutes before Debbie had to check in.

“If you need anything you will call me or Allie wont you?”

“Yes mum, and I’ll call you as soon as I get back to my dorm.”

“You better, I know your sensible, but I still worry about you.”

“Is she this bad with you when you go to work Allie?”

“Pretty much, but I don’t mind, I kinda like having someone worry about me.”

“Hey, I worry ok, I’m your mum, I’m entitled to worry about you.”

“Yes mum I know, now please just come here and give me a hug my check in desk just opened.”

Bea couldn’t hold the tears back, she was going to miss her, she didn’t think she would ever get used to Debbie leaving.

“Oh mum, come on, I’m not leaving for good, I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I know, I just can’t help it, I’m gonna miss ya.”

Debbie hugged her mum again before turning to Allie and hugging her, whispering in her ear, “look after her for me,” Allie whispering back,”I always will.”  
Debbie picked up her bag heading for the check in desk, turning round once telling them to get out of there, and that she’d call later once she got back to her dorm. Bea took Allie by the hand entwining their fingers and they went back to the car. Allie drove them home knowing that Bea was upset and not in the right frame of mind to be concentrating on driving. When they had first arrived home Bea had gone to their bedroom to lay down for a while, Allie chose to leave her alone giving her some time alone choosing to read a magazine that she had been meaning to read all week. A couple of hours later Bea went downstairs finding Allie still engrossed in her magazine, taking a seat beside her she didn’t say anything, Allie looked up,

“Feeling better now?”

“A little, it’s stupid isn’t it? She’s an adult, she’s living her life and I get so fucking emotional every time she leaves.”

Allie threw the magazine down in the coffee table turning to Bea as she did taking both her hands in hers,

“It’s not stupid, nothing you feel will ever be stupid, she’s your daughter, you’ve been through so much together, it’s natural that you are going to miss her, and she will miss you as well. I will never think you’re stupid for missing her, if I’m honest the house doesn’t feel the same even to me when she’s not here, so stop trying to play down how you feel, I’m here for you if you need me.”

“Why are you so good to me?”

“Let me think, maybe because I love you, because you're my world, because you’re the only person who has ever treated me the way you treat me, because your loving and warm and kind and beautiful and funny, and did I mention that I love you?”

“All that hmmm?”

“All that and more, but I could go on for the rest of the day by which time I think I would have bored you to tears, and I don’t want to see you cry anymore today.”

Just then Bea’s phone beeped indicating a text, retrieving her phone from her pocket she saw a text from Franky.

**We are back in the office in the morning aren’t we?**

**Yes we are, why? Are you thinking of pulling a sickie?**

**No, just double checking, see you tomorrow.**

She placed her phone on the coffee table pulling Allie into her lap just wanting to be close to her, they sat like that just holding each other not needing to speak until Bea’s phone rang, Debbie’s name flashing on the screen, Allie retrieved the phone passing it to Bea. They spoke for a while before she passed the phone back to Allie saying that Debbie wanted to talk to her, hanging up Allie got off Beas lap heading for the kitchen Bea following her.

“Are ya hungry?”

“Not really, I think I could eat a sandwich though.”

“You sit down babe, I’ll make it for you, want a beer with it?”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

Allie got two beers from the fridge and opened them handing one to Bea and placing the other down on the table before she turned her attention to making them both a sandwich, placing the plates on the table she took a seat next to Bea,

“I think we should have an early night, what do you think?”

“I think you’re right, I’m pretty tired, but we don’t have to if your not tired.”

“We’ve both got work again tomorrow, I think we need a good nights sleep babe, but on the plus side I’ll be home early, I’m starting at 10 all week because Will wants me to learn the stock take and orders and some other things, I finish at 5.”

“I can pick you up if you don’t mind waiting for me to get there, but you know we’ve got to get you a car, then I won’t worry about you so much.”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing, about getting a car, I hate relaying on you all the time.”

“I don’t mind picking you up, I’m going to ask Franky tomorrow if she minds, but until we get you a car I could use the SUV and you could use my car.”

Finishing up their sandwiches Bea washed the few things they had used before locking up and turning the lights off, they headed up to bed both feeling really tired, closing the blinds in their bedroom Bea didn’t notice a dark coloured car parked across the street with someone sitting inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be starting another chapter today, might even get it finished today.


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bea and Allie return to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course I forgot today is Wednesday, so another busy day, but here's the next chapter

Bea arrived at the office the next morning early as usual, a pile of post had been stacked neatly on Liz’s desk as she had been calling in everyday to check that everything was ok. She couldn’t be bothered looking through it so just went to her office, taking off her jacket and placing it on the back of her chair before walking back through to the reception area to put the coffee on and open the blinds, seeing Liz walking towards the door as she was doing it, she smiled and waved receiving a wave in return.

“Morning love, Debbie get back to uni ok?”

“Morning Liz, yes she did.”

“Oh before I forget, when I came in on Saturday morning there was a man looking for you, I told him to come back anytime this week.”

“Looking for me? As in actually looking for me?”

“Yes love, unless you know another Bea Smith that lives round here.”

“Did he say what he wanted?”

“Wouldn’t say, he said it was a personal matter and you were the only person he wanted to talk to.”

“Guess we’ll have to wait until he comes back to find out what all that’s about then.”

“He seemed familiar, like I’d seen him around but I couldn’t place him, so maybe it’s someone you’ve worked with before.”

“Could be, guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

The door opened and in walked Franky a big grim on her face.

“Morning, and look I’m five minutes early.”

“You turning over a new leaf?”

“Na Red, not gonna happen, just thought you’d have missed me.”

“I saw you on Friday and Saturday Franky, I don’t think I’ve had time to miss ya.”

“Seriously Red, you wound me, ya really do.”

“I’m sure you’ll live,” Bea replied laughing.

“Yer, but one day yer gonna admit that ya miss me.”

“Whatever Franky, but while you’re here I need a word.”

“Your office or mine?” Franky winked at her.

“I just wondered if you would mind if I used the SUV so Allie could borrow my car until she gets her own.”

“I don’t have a problem with that, bloody thing doesn’t get much use anyway.”

Bea decided that now was as good a time as any to look through the pile of post, nothing overly important, couple of bills, cheque’s from clients that she handed over to Liz for taking to the bank and the usual junk mail that they received. Retreating back to her office with a coffee she passed the time finishing up a report she should have finished last week but got distracted. Franky barged into Beas office a little after 4pm.

“So what are we doing about your car?”

“Huh.”

“Thought ya going to use the SUV so blondie could have your car.”

“Yer, your point is?”

“Well why don’t we drop your car off at the bar now and I can bring you back here.”

“Actually that sounds like a good idea, just give me a sec and I’ll meet you outside.”

Bea grabbed her car keys and left the office, driving her car over to the bar Franky following in her car. Arriving outside the bar Bea got out walking into the bar spotting Allie instantly she walked over to the bar.

“Now what are you doing here at this time of day?”

“Maybe I just wanted to see you.”

“You couldn’t just wait for another hour?”

“Na, and I wanted to give you something.”

“Did you, what might that be?”

Bea held out her hand with her car keys in, dropping them onto the bar in front of Allie.

“Your car keys, don’t you think your going to need them?”

“No, I spoke to Franky and I’m going to use the SUV, she’s outside waiting for me, now you can drive yourself home.”

“Oh, you won’t be picking me up then?” Allie pouted

“I thought you didn’t like having to relay on me all the time.”

“Your right, I don’t, but I do like you picking me up.”

  
“I can just as easily send Franky back to the office and wait for you.”

“No, it’s ok, but am I actually insured to drive your car?”

“Yer, I added you to the insurance when you got your driving license from Kaz, sorry I forgot to tell ya, must have slipped my mind.”

“Speaking of Kaz, I think I’m going to phone her tomorrow.”

“That’s good, you need to talk to her. As much as I don’t want to leave I have to get back to the office, if I’m not out of here soon Franky will be coming looking for me.”

“I’ll see you home babe.”

“You will, I shouldn’t be late it’s been quiet all day.”

Bea left the bar, jumping in Franky’s car they drove back to the office. Franky headed into her own office leaving Bea talking to Liz for a while before she went to her own office to get her things before leaving for the day. She had spent longer than she had intended to talking to Liz, it was gone five when she left, leaving Franky and Liz to lock up. Getting into the SUV she drove home, happy to find that Allie was already there. Walking into the house she heard Allie in the kitchen, she took her jacket and boots off and and walked over to the kitchen leaning against the door frame just watching Allie.

“What ya doing?”

Allie jumped and turned around.

“Jesus Bea don’t sneak up on me like that! But to answer your question I’m making dinner as if you couldn’t guess.”

“You didn’t have to, we could have just ordered a takeaway.”

“I wanted to, besides you haven’t tried it yet, we might end up ordering a takeaway, you do like pasta and meatballs don’t ya?”

“Yer, I do, need any help?”

“You could set the table if you really want to do something.”

\------------------------------

  
After they had eaten and washed the dishes they retreated back to the lounge and the comfort of the sofa, Bea sitting down while Allie lay on the sofa her head resting in Beas lap.

“Allie, can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything, you know that.”

  
“Well it might sound stupid now, I should have asked you this earlier but, when’s your birthday?”

“24th August, when’s yours?”

“26th December, but that crap, I already missed yours.”

“Doesn’t matter, I’m not big on birthdays anyway.”

“Why?”

“My parents never really celebrated my birthday, I told you they didn’t want me, it was different for my brother, they loved him, gave him everything he wanted.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yer, Alexander, he’s 4 years older than me, I think he loved me, he used to try and make my birthdays special, but he left to go to uni I only saw him a few times after that, I haven’t seen him since I was 18, he finished his degree and went travelling, he said he would be coming back to do a post grad degree, but when gran died that was that. I still miss him sometimes.”

“You could try to find him.”

“What would be the point? Mum and dad will have told him so much crap about me, he won’t want to see me. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Yer, a brother, also 4 years older, but he lives in New Zealand, it’s where I’m originally from, my dad got a job here so we moved, after I married Harry, mum and dad split up, dad got a new job back in New Zealand and Andrew, that’s my brother, went back with him. Can’t say I actually know what happened to my mum, she hated Harry, she didn’t come to our wedding, I never saw her again. She’s never even met Debbie.”

“Do you still see your dad?”

“Oh yer, I try to go over a couple of times a year, I was thinking about going over for Christmas this year, we haven’t done that for a few years.”

“You should go and spend Christmas with your family, I’ll be ok on my own.”

“You are joking right, I’m not leaving you here on your own, if we go you’re coming with us.”

“I couldn’t, I’d just be in the way, and I don’t have the best track record with families do I? Look what mine were like.”

“Your family were idiots to ever let you go, but your in our family now, mine and Debs, and I’m never letting you go, ever.”

Silence fell between them for a while.

“Bea.”

  
“Hmmmmm.”

“I guess I should have asked you this like forever ago but……will you be my girlfriend?”

“I kinda thought I already was, but since you asked…….can I think about it?”

“What?” Allie sat up a completely blank expression on her face, she was just about to get up when Bea wrapped her arms around her tightly, pulling her into her lap.

“I was joking, what is there to think about, didn’t I just say I already thought I was, so yes.”

“Your sure?”

“A million percent sure you idiot, now I think we should go to bed, let me prove to you how sure I am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should have another chapter for you tomorrow.


	38. Chapter 38

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short pretty boring filler chapter

Soon enough Friday had arrived again, Bea was sitting in her office organising things for the next week, they were again looking for a missing person, this time a teenage runaway, but after 3 days they had still had no luck finding anyone who had seen him. They had checked and double checked the usual places they found runaways and Bea was getting frustrated, she’d always found teenagers easier to find than adults. Her thoughts turning to Debbie, how easy it would have been for her to have had enough of her home life a few years ago and become a runaway. Turning her attention back to her computer screen Liz tapped on the door before poking her head round the door.

“Bea love, Kaz would like a word if you have time.”

“Huh, yer sure send her in.”

Bea had completely forgotten that Allie had said she was going to phone her and thinking back she hadn’t mentioned anything about it again, Bea had been so caught up in trying to find the missing teenager that she had forgotten to ask her if she had called her.

“Hey Bea, you don’t mind me dropping by do you?”

“Not at all, has Allie called you yet?”

“No, I was wondering if she had changed her mind?”

“Please take a seat, honestly I don’t know, she said she would call you on Tuesday, but I’ve been so busy here it completely slipped my mind to ask her. I think she’s been really busy this week at work, Wills been training her on the stocktaking and ordering side of things, she might just have forgotten herself.”

“I just wondered that was all, as long as she’s ok I understand if she’s busy.”

“I’ll mention it to her when I get home, anything else you need?”

“Well this might sound strange.”

“In this job nothing sounds strange to me anymore.”

“Well last week I kept noticing a man following me, it might be nothing, but I saw him on Friday when I came over to your house, and then again on Saturday sat outside the bar.”

“Could be a coincidence, but somehow I doubt it, have you seen him since?”

“No, can’t say I have.”

“All I can say is keep your eyes open, if you keep seeing him let me know, I can always have a word with Will.”

“Thanks, I better get going.”

“I’ll remind Allie to give you a call, don’t worry about it.”

Kaz just smiled, getting up from the chair she left. Looking at the time it was almost lunch time, she walked out of her office to find Liz walking back in, bag in hand.

“I went over to the deli to get us all some lunch, you weren’t going out were ya love?”

“No, I was just going to get a coffee.”

Liz went to Franky’s office and they all sat together eating their lunch, Franky and Bea trying to work out what would be their next course of action when the phone rang, Liz answered talking to whoever was on the phone for a couple of minutes before telling them to come in anytime before 4pm.

“New client for ya.”

“What is it this time?” Franky asked with a mouth full of her sandwich.

“Another missing teenager.”

“Oh god, this means twice as much work and we're gonna to have to split up, we don’t usually get two missing people at once.”

“Franky, I’m sure we can handle it as long as no one else comes to us with a missing person.”

They finished their lunch and both left the office, missing persons were a lot of leg work, Franky wasn’t keen on that but Bea loved it, she hated being in the office all day. A couple of hours later they had finally found someone who had recognised the teenager and gave them as much information as they could, they had to get back to the office, Liz hadn’t called so their new client hadn’t arrived. They had been back at the office for twenty minutes when their new client arrived. An hour later they had all the information they needed, it was almost 5pm and Bea wanted to get home, next week she wouldn’t be so keen to leave the office early as Allie would be closing the bar so she wouldn’t be home until after midnight.

\------------------------------

Bea had almost run out of the office after calling a take out order into the little Italian restaurant that she loved, she had done a couple of jobs for the owner and he was always willing to do her a quick take out order whenever she asked. She’d ordered lasagna, jumping out of the SUV she ran in collected her order, paid and ran straight back out again, arriving home five minutes before Allie, giving her just enough time to prepare a quick salad and open a bottle of wine. She was just setting the table as Allie walked in, hearing her kicking her shoes off Bea walked out of the kitchen.

“Dinners ready.”

“What time did you get in?”

“About five minutes ago.”

“So you got a takeaway?”

“Well yes, but trust me you’re going to love it.”

Allie walked into the kitchen taking a seat at the table, Bea put the salad and lasagna on the table before filling both their glasses, and taking a seat across from her.

“I didn’t know there was an Italian takeaway round here.”

“Technically there isn’t, but I know the owner of a great Italian restaurant, he’s happy to do me a take out order when I ask.”

“And you’re only telling me this now?”

“I never thought of it before today.”

They ate their food and chatted about their days, Bea telling her about now having to missing teenagers to find and Allie telling Bea that she had mastered the ordering system that Will used and that he was letting her place the next order. They washed the few dishes they had used then retreated to the lounge with the bottle of wine to watch some reality tv program that Allie wanted to watch. Bea wasn’t paying attention to the tv anyway, she needed to ask Allie about calling Kaz, she wasn’t sure if she had just forgotten or was avoiding doing it again, as soon as the program finished Bea decided that it was as good a time as any, refilling their glasses again.

“Kaz came into the office this afternoon.”

“Hmm, yer, shit I was going to phone her wasn’t I? Was she mad?”

“No, she was just wondering if you had changed your mind, but that wasn’t the only thing she came in for.”

“Well she can’t be asking you to find me again, who has she lost this time?” Allie giggled.

“No one you idiot, she said she thought there had been a man following her, but she hasn’t seen him since last week.”

“That’s strange.”

“That’s what I thought, maybe she’s more scary than I thought and he’s been trying to crack on to her.” Bea laughed.

“Fuck….he’d be one brave bloke to try that, she’d probably beat the shit out of him.”

They both laughed about it, both of them really thinking that it was probably nothing.

“I’d better phone her, would it be ok if I asked her to come round here, or would you rather we met her somewhere more neutral?”

“I don’t mind, just phone her will ya, or she’ll be back at the office next week and I’m going to be so bloody busy I won’t have time to just sit and chat.”

Allie got her phone out of her bag and called Kaz speaking to her for ten minutes arranging for her to go over on Sunday evening, they always spent Sunday together and Allie was not giving up her Sunday’s with Bea for anything or anyone. They finished up their wine before Allie locked the house up and Bea went to wash the now empty glasses before they headed to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter should be finished later on today.


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bea gets a visitor at the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You might not want to read the beginning of this chapter in public.

Allie was the first to wake up the next morning, picking her head up from the pillow she looked over at the alarm clock, 6:37am glaring back at her in bright red, she put her head back down and shifted herself a little so she look at Bea better in the morning light, “how did I ever end up here?” She thought to herself. She lay there for a few minutes more just looking at her, devouring every inch of her face with her eyes trying to commit every millimetre to memory, the feeling that one day this would all end, or she would wake up in a cold damp doorway or some derelict building and all this had been a dream still hung over her. She loved Bea more than she could every convey to her in words, and she was so scared that she would fuck up somehow and Bea would kick her out, and never want to see her again. She sat up shaking her head trying to clear her head of those thoughts that tormented her, looking back over a Bea she lent down placing a soft kiss on her temple before getting out of bed and going to the bathroom for a shower. Almost as soon as she had closed the door behind her Bea slowly opened her eyes, rolling over onto her back and stretching, hearing the water running in the shower she sat up, sitting back against the headboard she suddenly had the overwhelming urge to touch Allie. Extracting her self from the bed she walked over to the bathroom door removing her pyjamas as she went, she slowly opened the door, walking into the room and closing the door silently behind her. She opened the shower door without Allie even noticing, stepping into the shower cubical and closing it again, Allie had her back towards her standing under the water, she closed the small gap between them instantly wrapping her arms around her waist and kissing down her neck.

“Bea…..what are you doing?”

“I want you.”

“You’ve got me, I’m all yours for as long as you want me.”

“How does forever sound?”

“Like I’m still asleep and dreaming.”

Bea spun Allie around gently backing her up against the tiled wall, leaning forward and connecting their lips in a passionate kiss only pulling away when the need to breath became more urgent than the need to kiss her.

“Still feel like your dreaming?”

“God I hope not.”

Allie reconnected their lips this time in a much slower loving kiss, Bea had other ideas though she wasn’t just going to stand there kissing no matter how much she was enjoying it, she broke the kiss, kissing along her jaw and down her neck, across her collar bone and back up the other side of her neck, Allie moved her hands and rested them on Beas hips as Bea kissed back down her neck stopping at her pulse point gently kissing and sucking on it, earning her a low moan from Allie. Continuing her journey down Allies body she kissed down her chest down between her breasts, before turning her attention to her right breast kissing every inch of skin before sucking her already hardened nipple into her mouth while slowly dragging her hand up Allies body finding her way to her left breast gently massaging it before rolling the nipple between her thumb and finger.

  
“Oh…fuck…Bea we…we have….to….to…get ready…..f…f…for work.”

“Work can wait….I want you.”

Allie threw her head back against the wall as Bea carried on kissing her way down Allies body, over her stomach dropping down to her knees, she kissed over her left hip and down the front of her thigh, trailing her hand down her side over her hip and down the back of her thigh she gently pulled her right leg up and hung it over her shoulder before kissing up the inside of her left thigh stopping for a second and looking up at Allie, and god did she want to do this, she’d been thinking about it for days, she gulped down the lump that had formed in her throat before carrying on, plunging her tongue between her folds she licked from her clit down to her opening and back to her clit.

“Fuck…Bea…..”

That was all she needed to carry on, circling her clit with her tongue Allie moaned loudly, spurring her on even more, bringing her hand down she entered her with two fingers at the same time sucking her clit into her mouth and flicking it with the tip of her tongue, she picked up the pace thrusting her fingers in and out and curling them inside of her she could feel Allie starting to slide down the wall as she came undone, Bea snaked her other arm round her trying to hold her up until she she road her orgasm out, removing Allies leg from her shoulder she stood up keeping a very unsteady Allie pinned to the wall planting a soft loving kiss on her lips.

“Where the fuck did that come from? Not that I’m complaining,” Allie said breathlessly.

“Was that ok?” A worried Bea replied.

“It was amazing babe, your fucking amazing.”

“I’m really not.”

“Trust me you are, you really are.”

Once Allie got her breath back and her legs felt less like jelly she spun Bea around.

“Babe we don’t have time for this.”

“Like you told me earlier…..work can wait.”

An hour later they had managed to actually shower, although being in the shower together was still very distracting, Allie had managed to get out of the shower and escape Bea starting something again, grabbing her towel she wrapped it round her and went to the bedroom to get dry and get dressed leaving Bea to get dry in the bathroom, by the time Bea went back to the bedroom Allie was dressed.

“Babe have you seen the time, you are officially late for work.”

Bea looked at the alarm clock 9:01am.

“Franky is going to give me so much shit.”

  
She got dressed quickly, tried to tame her wild curls without much luck, opting to tie it up in a loose pony tail and running downstairs throwing on her jacket and having a fight with her boots as she tried to pull them on, Allie followed her downstairs.

“Want to wait for coffee?”

“Don’t have time, I’ll see you tonight.”

She rushed over to Allie dropping a quick kiss on her lips and ran out the door. She was getting mad, the traffic was a mess, time was getting away from her. Finally she parked up outside the office, grabbed her things from the passenger seat she almost fell through the office door coming face to face with Franky the biggest grin on her face Bea had ever seen. Before Franky could say anything Liz spoke up first.

“Bea love, this young man would like to have a word with you.”

She turned around to face the chairs coming face to face with a blond haired blue eyed man who could have almost been Allies double. She stopped and just stared at him, not even noticing that he had extended his hand towards her,

“You must be Bea Smith.”

“Err, yes,” she managed to get out taking his hand and shaking it, “how can I help you?”

“I’m Alex…..Alexander Novak.”

“You…you’re Allies…brother.”

“Yes I am, I’m sorry, she has told you about me then?”

“Yes, yes she has, come through to my office, please.”

She turned and smiled at Liz, Franky now just looked shocked as Bea walked in the direction of her office followed by Alexander.

“Would you like me to bring coffee in for you both?”

“Please Liz….how do you take yours?” She asked Alexander.

“Black, one sugar please.”

They walked into Beas office, Bea gestured for him to take a seat as she sat in her own chair. Bea couldn’t believe Allies brother was sitting right in front of her, she didn’t know what to say. Liz knocked on the door and slowly opened the door, placing the coffees on the desk she asked if they needed anything else, Bea just shook her head and she left closing the door behind her.

“I guess this is a bit of a shock.”

“Yer, you could say that.”

  
“Listen I’ll be honest with you, I’ve been looking for Allison for some time.”

Bea looked confused.

“Oh I’m sorry, she hates her name, we all just call her Allie, bet you didn’t even know her real name.”

“It’s never come up in conversation.”

“I’ve spent the last two years looking for her, it wasn’t until recently that I was able to afford to pay someone to look for her, so I apologise if you noticed you were being followed, I just had to find her.”

“I only found out you existed a couple of days ago, she thinks you wouldn’t want to see her.”

“Oh believe me, our parents tried their hardest to make her sound like the most awful person that had ever lived, but she’s my little sister, I don’t care what she’s done, and I do know what she’s had to do in the past, and I’m glad she found someone like you to love.”

Bea just sat there, her head was a jumble of thoughts.

“It’s ok, I’m nothing like our parents, I don’t have a problem with her being gay, all I care about is that she’s happy, and I’ve seen you together.”

The realisation suddenly set in where she’d seen him before.

“That was you on Sunday in the supermarket car park.”

“Yes and I’m sorry for running into you like that, I did try to apologise but I think I made you a little angry, it wasn’t intentional.”

“I’m sorry, we were running late, my daughter was going back to university that afternoon and we were taking her to lunch before we dropped her off at the airport.”

“That’s your daughter? You don’t look old enough to have a daughter at uni.”

“ I had her when I was 18, anyway, how have you even seen her?”

“I was at the diner, you didn’t see me, I don’t remember a time I’ve ever seen Allie look so happy and relaxed as she was that day.”

“So, what is it you want me to do for you?”

“I’m not sure, I want to see her, but I don’t know if she wants to see me.”

“I think she does,….would you like me to pass your number on to her?”

“That would be great.”

He took his business card from his jacket pocket and slid it over the desk to Bea, she picked it up and glanced at it.

“You’re a lawyer?”

“That’s right.”

“My daughter is studying law, she plans to specialise in family law eventually.”

“You have a smart daughter, actually I have to go, don’t want to take up too much of your time, I’m guessing you must be busy.”

“Yes we are at the moment, I’ll speak to Allie as soon as I get home tonight, I can’t promise that she will call you, but I’ll call you myself if she decides not to if that would be alright.”

“Thanks Bea, you don’t mind me calling you a Bea do you?”

“Of course not.”

Bea walked him to the door saying either Allie or herself would call him, he left wishing her a good day, Bea turned back into the office locking eyes with Liz.

“That’s who was here last Saturday, I said he seemed familiar, that’s Allies brother?”

“Yes, its Allies older brother.”

Franky appeared at her office door.

“So Red, who was he?”

“Allies brother.”

“Jesus, you sure they ain’t twins?”

“No he’s 4 years older.”

“So why did he come to see you and not blondie?”

“Fuck sake Franky, enough with the interrogation?”

Franky just held her hands up in defeat.

“Ok, ok…..which one of the kids are you going out looking for?”

“Do you want to take the new case and I’ll stick with the first one?”

“Yer, whatever ya want.”

Franky went back to her office to collect her things before leaving the office, Bea went back to her office to collect the empty mugs before getting her things together and leaving the office. Her mind was all over the place, she had only just asked Allie about her brother and now she had met him. The rest of the day passed in a blur, her head wasn’t in the game, although she did manage to find out a couple of places she could look, and another teenager who said he knew the missing teen and had seen him around took her business card promising to call if he saw him. She went back to the office just after 3:30pm, Franky wasn’t back yet, she chatted to Liz for a few minutes before deciding to call it a day and headed home. She had to sit Allie down and talk to her not having a clue how she was going to react to the news that her brother wanted to see her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I had to end this chapter where I did, I could have been writing it for the rest of the night making it a little too long. I will have the next chapter ready tomorrow.


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is Bea right to be worried about Allies reaction to the news of her brother?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once more I'm awake at stupid o'clock, and I wrote this pretty quickly.

Arriving home Bea hung up her jacket, kicked off her boots walked over to the sofa dropped her bag down before flopping down onto the sofa and sighing. Allie wouldn’t be home for over an hour, she had to clear her head, this was a serious conversation she had to have with her and she couldn’t think of a way to tell her other than to just say her brother wanted to see her. It was too early to start making dinner so she decided to have a shower while she waited for Allie to get home. After she had showered she pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a t shirt and went back downstairs, grabbing a beer from the fridge before returning to the sofa to wait for Allie. She’d already decided what she was going to do, knowing what time she could expect Allie home was not a problem so she still had some time to kill, turning on the tv she flicked through the channels finally settling on leaving the news channel on, not that she had much interest in what was going on, she had enough going on not to worry about anything else. Glancing at the clock 5:15, Allie would be home in five minutes, give or take, so she went back upstairs to run her a bath, she would be tired maybe even a little stressed today since Will was letting her do her first order for the bar. Filling the bath using Allies favourite bubbles and lighting more candles than was probably necessary, before turning the radio on in the bedroom finding a station playing the most relaxing music she could find she went back downstairs reaching the bottom just as Allie walked through the door, their eyes met instantly.

“Bea, why are you home already?”

“Had a rough day, so I called it quits early, are you not happy to see me?”

“I didn’t mean it like that, I’m always happy to see you, you just hardly ever get home before me when I finish at this time.”

Allie closed the distance between them wrapping her arms around Beas neck and pulling her in for a kiss. Bea instinctively wrapped her arms around Allies waist and pulled her in closer. When they pulled apart slightly Bea was the first to speak.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you to, so much more than you will ever know.”

“I ran you a bath, thought you could relax while I cook dinner.”

“Mmmm, that’s very thoughtful of you,” Allie replied before kissing Bea again.

“Anything you fancy?”

“Oh you, definitely you.”

“I meant to eat.”

“I wouldn’t mind eating you, and after this morning…..”

“Allie, I am being serious.”

“I know, I’ll leave it up to you, I’m not fussy, I’m sure anything you make will be great.”

  
“Go and have your bath then, I’ll let you know when dinners nearly ready.”

Allie didn’t need telling twice, she gave Bea one last kiss before she disappeared up the stairs, stripping herself of her work clothes as soon as she entered the bedroom. The bathroom door was open and she could see the soft glow of the candle flames, she could hardly believe anyone would do all this just for her. Getting into the tub she lay back her head resting on the back of the tub her thoughts returning to her girlfriend downstairs who was now cooking them dinner, she’d had a long day at work and she had taken the time to do this, to make her feel special, make her feel that she was truly loved and wanted. She felt the tears building in her eyes, all her life all she had ever wanted was to feel what she was feeling now, she knew that she would go through all the crap she had suffered and worse all over again if it meant that right here with Bea, her shy, gorgeous, loving and very sexy Bea would be the end result. She hadn’t heard Bea walking up the stairs or walking into the bedroom she was too caught up in her thoughts, hearing Bea clear her throat was what made her look up.

“Babe, you scared me.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to, but dinners almost ready.”

“Yer….babe….thank you.”

“For what?”

“For all this, for just being you, I love you so much.”

Bea walked into the bathroom kneeling down at the side of the tub and taking one of Allies hands in both of hers,

“And I love you to, my beautiful girl, I never thought I could feel like this, ever, it’s me that should be thanking you for making me feel again.”

She dropped a kiss on Allies cheek before letting go of her hand and standing up,

“Now are you going to get out of that bath or am I going to have to pull the plug out?”

“I’ll get out, I won’t be long.”

Bea turned and walked out of the bathroom headed back to the kitchen. Allie pulled the plug and got out, drying herself off she pulled on a pair of shorts and a t shirt and went in search of Bea, entering the kitchen she found her sitting at the table waiting for her, taking a seat across from her they ate and told each other about their days, Bea obviously missing out the part about Allies brother paying her a visit. When they had finished they washed the dishes together, Bea got a couple of beers from the fridge, taking Allie by the hand and leading her through to the lounge, stopping long enough to turn the stereo on before walking over to the couch and sitting down. They both placed their beers on the coffee table before Bea pulled Allie into her lap.

“Bea what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, why?”

  
“You seem distracted, have I done something wrong, tell me, if I have give me a chance to fix it.”

“You haven’t done anything, I just need to talk to you.”

“Sounds serious, you aren’t breaking up with me are you, you know trying to let me down gently cos you think it won’t hurt so much if you do that, cos if you are I’d rather you just say it now.”

The tears were once again building in Allies eyes, that feeling of dread and rejection building in the pit of her stomach once more, but it seemed so much worse than she ever remembered it feeling.

“Allie, why would you even think that? I love you and I’m not about to let you go, ever.”

“So why do I feel like you are?”

“I just need to talk to you, I had a visitor at the office this morning, someone who wants to see you.”

“Is Kaz thick? We’re seeing her tomorrow.”

“It wasn’t Kaz, it…..it was your brother.”

“Al….Alex….he was at your office, but why…..how?”

Bea wrapped her arms round Allie tighter, she didn’t know how this was going to go but she wasn’t going to let her go, she didn’t want her to run, unsure of how she was going to respond to hearing this, the last thing she wanted was for her to get scared and try to run.

“He said he’s been looking for you for the last two years, but it was only recently that he could afford help in tracing you. Remember last Sunday, that guy who ran into me? That was Alex, and at the diner while we were having lunch with Deb he was there to. He’s a lawyer now.”

Allie turned slightly so she could look at Bea seeing nothing in her eyes but love.

“But mum and dad.”

“He said they had tried to turn him against you but he didn’t listen to them, you know why don’t you? He’s your brother and he loves you.”

Bea released her hold on Allie and pulled his business card out of her pocket and handed it to her,

“He wants you to call him, but if you won’t I told him I would, I’m hoping you will though.”

Allie was quiet for a couple of minutes, just looking at the card in her hand.

“If I call him, you will stay with me?”

“I’ll do anything you want me to do beautiful.”

“I need to think about it, I’m not saying I won’t, it’s just too much to take in, I never thought for a second that I’d ever see him again.”

  
“I know, but can you imagine how I felt this morning coming face to face with him, it was almost like looking at you, except that he’s taller and male obviously. Liz said he called at the office last Saturday when she had gone in to check on things and she thought she knew him but couldn’t place him, now we know why, you look so much like each other.”

“We always did, people used to think we were twins.”

“Are you ok?”

“If anyone else had just told me what you have I think I would have bolted, but you, being with you makes me feel like I can deal with anything, so yer, I’m ok, as long as you’re here with me I think I’ll always be ok.”

They sat together, Allie still in Beas lap, a comfortable silence fell between them for a few minutes, before Allie stood up, holding out her hands to Bea who took both her hands in hers.

“Come to bed, I want you, I need to feel you.”

Bea looked up into her clear blue eyes, with just that one look between them Bea could swear she felt herself fall deeper in love with Allie. She allowed herself to be pulled up from the sofa and lead upstairs, forgetting about turning the lights off, because right now Allie was all she wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should manage another chapter today, seems I'm back to my usual self.


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Allie call Alex?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing spectacular in this chapter.

Allie had been awake on and off all night, Bea had taken her mind of phoning Alex for more than a couple of hours but as soon as she had fallen asleep it was constantly on her mind. Even being wrapped around her right now wasn’t calming her growing nerves now, she slowly extracted herself from Beas arms and got out of bed, throwing her t shirt and shorts back on she made her way downstairs suddenly realising that they hadn’t turned the lights off before they went to bed. She got a beer out of the fridge and went to sit on the sofa, curling her legs underneath her. She hadn’t seen her brother in nine years. She believed what Bea had told her, but she could help wonder how much he knew and that was what scared her the most, how much did he know, if he didn’t know anything about her past could she tell him, and if she had to tell him would he reject her. She finished the beer and put the empty bottle down on the coffee table. Looking over to the the only family photos she had left in the world, her only reminders that she had ever been loved before she met Bea. Her thoughts drifting off to when her and Alex had been younger, the trouble they got into together, the stupid things they did together, she smiled at the memories.

Bea woke up reaching over to Allies side of the bed finding her gone and the bed cold where she should have been, she sat up and glanced at the clock, 6:17am. She knew Allie had a lot on her mind and she was worried, she got up to use the bathroom throwing her t shirt and sweatpants on from the previous day and went downstairs in search of her missing girlfriend, finding her curled up on the sofa wide awake. Allie heard her coming downstairs but didn’t move.

“Allie,” Bea whispered.

She picked her head up, looking at her but not speaking. Bea walked towards her kneeling down in front of her and resting one hand on her knee and taking one of her hands in hers.

“Are you alright?”

“I guess, I just can’t stop thinking about Alex.”

“Have you decided what you’re going to do yet?”

“I think I’m going to phone him in the morning.”

“Babe, I hate to tell you this but it is morning, it’s gone six now.”

“Shit, I didn’t think I’d been down here that long.”

“You couldn’t sleep could you? You should have woken me up, you didn’t have to sit here by yourself.”

“I know, but you looked so peaceful, I didn’t want to disturb you, plus you were tired.”

“I may have been tired but I’m here for you, anything you need….besides it’s your fault I was tired.”

“I didn’t hear you complaining!”

“Still as cheeky as ever I see, come on, come back to bed for a while.”

  
“I think I will, you’re coming with me aren’t you?”

“Course I am, its Sunday morning, don’t we usually stay in bed together?”

Bea got up pulling Allie up with her, turning the light off they went back to bed, they got back under the duvet and both sat with their backs against the headboard, Allie resting her head against Beas shoulder, they just sat there for a while neither of them speaking, Bea was unsure what to say really, Allie was the first to speak.

“So are we still going to the supermarket this morning?”

“We don’t have to, I mean if you’re too tired I can go alone, and Kaz is coming round this evening.”

“Yer, I remember, I want to go with you, I like our Sundays together, it might just be shopping and laundry but any time we spend together is just precious ya know? I don’t care what we do, being with you means so much.”

“I know, listen I’ve been thinking since yesterday, I’m going to phone my dad and my brother, I think it’s about time I told them about us.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know I don’t have to, I want to, I told you we got to New Zealand for Christmas, this time I want you to come with me and Deb, I’m not leaving you here on your own, and besides I’ve already met your brother, I think you need to meet mine, it’s only fair.”

“Hmmm, I can’t really argue with that can I?”

“No ya can’t, so right now I’m going to go have a shower and then I’ll make breakfast.”

After a quick shower Bea got dressed and went to the kitchen, leaving Allie to have a shower, she hoped that a long shower might help her clear her head a little. Half an hour later Allie appeared,

“I thought you were making breakfast.”

“Hmmm, I was going to but I was going to make scrambled eggs and I wasn’t sure how long you were going to be so I decided to wait for you.”

“Well I’m here now,” Allie crossed the kitchen placing her arms round her and kissing her on the neck.

“Mmmm, yes you are…are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

Bea made breakfast for them both and poured the coffee, sitting next to each other at the kitchen table, after they had finished Allie had insisted on doing the dishes. They went about heir usual Sunday morning routine, after lunch Allie decided that it was now or never. She went to the bedroom to get Alex’s business card, sitting down on the sofa next to Bea she picked her phone up from the coffee table letting out a loud sigh. Bea took hold of her hand entwining their fingers, turning her head to look at Allie seeing the worried expression on her face.

“I’m sure it’ll be ok, why would he be looking for you if he really didn’t want to see you?”

Allie just nodded before dialling the number, the call was answered on the fourth ring.

“Hello,”

“Alex, is that you?”

“Allie….course it’s me, I can’t believe you called, it’s so good to hear your voice, how are you?”

“Wow, Alex slow down, I’m fine.”

“Hey, how did you ever manage to get ya self such a gorgeous girlfriend?”

“Hey, keep ya eyes to yourself.”

The conversation between them flowed so easily, it was as if they had never been apart, all Allies nerves just melted away the second she heard his voice. They talked for over an hour, Bea had tried to get up and leave her to talk in private but Allie had been having none of it pulling her back. The conversation suddenly turned to them meeting,

“Allie, can we meet, and soon?”

“I guess that would be ok, but would you mind if Bea came with me?”

“Hey course not, besides I’ve already met her, I hope your not angry with me for going to her first.”

“No, it would have been a bit strange if you’d have just turned up here.”

“That’s what I thought, so sis, when would be a good time for you?”

“I’m not working until three every day next week, guess we could meet for lunch, but I’ll have to check with Brea, I know she’s pretty busy at work.”

“Ok, so let’s say lunch one day next week, my shout and no arguments, I have something to tell you that I don’t want to discuss over the phone, so you just text me when’s best for the both of you and I’ll book a table somewhere for us.”

“Ok, sounds good, and Alex…..I’ve missed you.”

“Hey I’ve missed you to, see you soon.”

Finishing the call she put her phone back down on the coffee table.

“Sounded like that went well.”

“Yer it did, he wants to meet up with us.”

  
“Are you sure you want me to be there?”

“Why wouldn’t I, and like Alex just said, he’s already met you.”

“Oh yer, like that wasn’t awkward.”

“Babe, please, I want you there, what day is best for you for lunch?”

“Doesn’t really matter, although it might be easier after Wednesday.”

They spent the best part of the afternoon cuddled up on the sofa Allie telling Bea stories about when her and Alex were younger, they both fell asleep for a while, waking up just before 6pm.

“What time did you say Kaz was coming over?”

“Around seven why?”

“I’m not cooking, are you?”

“For Kaz, no!”

“We’ll just order pizza then.”

Allie decided to call for the pizza just after six thirty, Kaz arrived just before seven, Bea answering the door.

“She hasn’t changed her mind about me coming over has she?”

“I hope not she’s already ordered an extra large pizza, so just come in will ya.”

The pizza arrived not long after and they all sat and chatted, Allie couldn’t keep her news in about Alex, to say Kaz was shocked was an understatement she didn’t even know Allie had a brother. Kaz had never really asked Allie questions about her family, unlike Bea who wanted Allie to remember the good memories she had, Kaz didn’t seem to think that holding onto the past was a great idea. Bea remembered that Allie had told her that she’d had a bad experience when she was younger and she had never asked anymore about it, Bea found herself thinking that she could have ended up more like Kaz if Allie hadn’t have come along when she did, she’d spent three years closed off from almost everyone except Debbie and the few close friends she had, in a way she felt sorry for Kaz, she knew all too well that a bad experience can and will stay with you but you have to choose if you’re going to let it take over your life, she nearly had, then along came Allie, she crashed through the wall that she had built up around herself and she had been powerless to stop her, not that looking back on it now she had any intention of stopping her, from the first time she had seen Allie there was something there, something that she was powerless to fight, “Thank god for Allie,” she thought to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter should be ready for you tomorrow.


	42. Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What has Alex got to tell Allie?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been a bit slow writing today, but finally I've finished this chapter.

Bea had been in her office for about an hour, Franky had already left to make fresh enquiries about the teenager she was looking for, her phone rang dragging her attention away from her computer screen picking up her phone and answering it, finishing the call she jumped out of her chair, picked up her bag and almost ran out of her office.

“Wow, slow down love, where’s the fire?”

“Can’t stop Liz, got to go.”

She ran out of the door, jumped into the SUV and drove off. After driving for ten minutes she pulled into a side street, jumped out and locked the SUV, she scanned the area quickly spotting who she was looking for and walked towards them. Looking the two teenagers up and down before she spoke.

“Thanks for the call,”

“Yer, no worries….think he’s had enough of being out here.”

Turning to the other teenager she looked closely at him, he looked tired and dirty, she guessed that he must be hungry, using that as an excuse to try to get him away from the area and hopefully to convince him to go home.

“Have you eaten today?”

“Na, haven’t eaten since the day before yesterday.”

“We could go and get you a burger, anything you want, how does that sound?”

“Fantastic…so you’re the person who’s been out here looking for me?”

“Yep, so are we going to go and eat?”

The teen nodded and smiled at his companion, Bea turned and started to walk away, looking over her shoulder he was following her, she walked round the corner to burger bar the teen by now right by her side, walking inside she went to the counter to order ordering him a cheeseburger a large order of fries and a Coke, ordering herself a coffee before returning to where he was sitting. They talked for a few minutes before the food arrived, he reminded her of Debbie how quickly he ate, in his case it was pure hunger. She was relieved when he said he wanted to go home, he ran away after a stupid argument with his mum and after a couple of days he didn’t think he could face her. He’d planned on buying a train ticket and going to Sydney, but then he’d lost his money. After another burger and another Coke he was ready to leave and go back to the office with Bea.

“You will be there when mum arrives won’t ya.” He had asked her nervously.   
Bea had assured him that she would and he settled back into passenger seat for the short drive back to the office. Entering the office he had been really nervous but after laughing and joking with Liz he settled down. His mum couldn’t thank Bea enough for all she’d done, before taking him home, Bea telling him as they were leaving that she didn’t want his name coming back up anytime soon on one of her cases.

“Good result love.”

“ I hope Franky is doing ok with the other case,”

“Did Allie call her brother?”

“Yes, yes she did, we’re meeting him one day for lunch.”

“That’s good love, she’ll feel better having you with her.”

Bea had returned to her office to write up her report so she could close the case, she had spent most of the rest of the day daydreaming about Allie, she had planned on working late, but she didn’t really have anything much to do, Franky had called saying she wouldn’t be back in the office until the morning, in the end she had just decided to call round to the bar and try a grab a few minutes with Allie before going home. Allie was just about to have a break when she arrived which had meant that they had got twenty minutes together. Allie telling her that she had texted Alex and arranged lunch for Thursday which Bea had said was fine especially now they only had one missing person to find. Allie had joked that Bea must be off her game as it hadn’t taken her more than a day to find her, making her laugh when she’d said that maybe she just wanted to find her more after she’d seen her picture. She had left soon after Allie had finished her break, not looking forward to spending the evening alone, deciding that she would give Debbie a call after dinner and fill her in on their news.

Thursday morning arrived quicker than either of them wanted, Bea had been leaving Allie to sleep in until this morning, today was the day, Allie was finally going to meet her big brother after a nine year separation, she had been so on edge the night before that nothing Bea could do or say had helped. Waking up before the alarm Bea lay there for a while holding Allie in her arms listening to her breath, she figured that this was the calmest she was going to be for the rest of the morning, looking at the clock it wasn’t quite seven so she decided that she would turn off the alarm before it could wake Allie up. She must have dozed off for a while, the next time she looked at the clock it was just after eight. She was glad Allie was still sleeping soundly, turning slightly she reached over to grab her phone deciding to call Franky.

“Fuck sake Red have you seen the time?”

“Yes thanks, you’re lucky I didn’t call you an hour ago when I first woke up.”

“Seriously now is not the time to be calling for sex advice.”

“Fuck you, I don’t need your advice I do quite well on my own thanks, that’s not why I’m calling ya.”

“Ahhh, ya just wanted to her my voice, that’s what turns ya on,” Franky laughed down the phone.

“Can we just have a normal conversation just for once?”

“Are ya kidding, that’s just boring.”

“Franky listen, I’m not coming in until after lunch.”

  
“Stoppin’ in bed all mornin’, can’t say I blame ya.”

“No Franky, we’re meeting Allies brother for lunch at twelve, she was so nervous last night, and I just don’t want to leave her at home on her own ya know.”

“Oh right, I get ya, but ya know sex is the best way to get her to relax.”

“Fuck off Franky, I’ll see ya later alright?”

“What ever ya say Red, laters.”

She dropped the phone back on to the bedside table after having an idea, she slipped out of Allies arms slowly so as not to disturb her. She ran downstairs to put the coffee before making pancakes, taking the strawberries from the fridge she cut them up. Plating the pancakes and strawberries up she poured two mugs of coffee and went back to the bedroom, putting the plate and coffees down on the bedside table she leaned over and shook Allie gently.

“Allie.”

No response.

“Babe, it’s time to get up.”

Allie fluttered her eyes open a small smile appeared when she saw a Bea leaning over her.

“What time is it?”

“Just after eight thirty sleepy head, time to get up.”

She turned on her back and slowly sat up.

“Your going to be late for work.”

Bea sat on the edge of the bed, passing her the plate she had prepared for her.

“I’m not going to be late because I’m not going to work until after lunch, and before you say anything else I already called Franky to let her know, now eat your breakfast.”

“You called Franky at this time in the morning, bet she gave ya shit,” Allie said with a mouth full of pancake.

“Hmmm, just a little nothing I can’t deal with, finish your breakfast and I’ll run you a bath.”

“I was going to have a shower.”

“Well we’re going to have a bath, so don’t argue.”

“Ohhhh, its We is it? I think I like the sound of that.”

“I bet ya do,” Bea replied with a wink.

  
She got up from the bed and went to the bathroom to start running the water in the tub adding Allies favourite bubbles, she was determined to try and keep Allie calm until it was time to leave to meet Alex, she really didn’t think she could stand a repeat performance of the night before, if Allie paced the lounge floor just once more she knew she was going to snap and the last thing she wanted was to shout at her, it wouldn’t look good if Allie was upset when they reached the restaurant. Poking her head round the bathroom door she saw Allie leaning back against the headboard coffee in hand. Walking back into the bedroom she picked up her coffee,

“How are you feeling?”

“Nervous, I don’t know what we’re going to talk about, and I’m really nervous about what he wants to tell me.”

“It could be anything, maybe he’s getting married.”

“Never thought of that, but I couldn’t go mum and dad would be there.”

“Babe whatever it is I’ll be there right by your side.”

Bea sat on the edge of the bed and turned to face her taking her hands in hers.

“I love you Alliecat, what ever it is you don’t have to face it alone, I’ll be there.”

“I know, I love you so much, why are you always this good to me?”

“Why do you even need to ask? Didn’t I just tell you that I love you, all of you, your beautiful, smart, funny and most of all you’re just you.”

“Sooo…are we having this bath or not?”

“You have to get out of bed first silly.”

Allie jumped out of bed stripping herself of her night ware and almost ran to the bathroom, Bea just shook her head and smiled, picking up her coffee mug and drinking half of it before getting up and stripping herself and going to the bathroom.

“Looks like you’re a bath hog from here.”

Allie sat up and shuffled herself a little further down.

“I’m not now, get in.”

Bea got in behind Allie and wrapped her arms and legs around her pulling her as close as she possibly could.

“Hmmm, I could stay here all day like this with you.”

“No thanks, I know sometimes I could use a cold shower but I draw the line at a cold bath,” Bea giggled.

They lay there together mainly in silence just enjoying being so close until the water started to go cold, Allie getting out first and wrapping herself in a towel before handing another towel to Bea. By the time they had got dressed it was almost time to leave the house.

“Babe promise you won’t leave me.”

“I promise, and have I broken a promise to you yet?”

“No, but there’s always a first time.”

Bea wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tight. Leaving the house a couple of minutes later, as soon as they set off Allies nerves started getting the better of her. Bea reached over and took her hand entwining their fingers.

“Can we just turn round and go home?”

“Not on your life, trust me he’s still going to love ya, but not as much as I do.”

Arriving at the restaurant twenty minutes later Bea parked the SUV, unbuckled her seat belt and turned to Allie.

“You ready?”

“I guess, can’t turn around and run now can I?”

They got out and walked over to the door hand in hand, Allie holding Beas hand much tighter than she normally would. As they walked in Alexander spotted Bea straight away, standing up from his seat he waved them over, Bea squeezed Allies hand as they walked over.

“Allie…it’s so great to see you, and Bea I’m so grateful you got her to call me, please sit down.”

Allie just sat there staring at him not sure what to say, grabbing Beas hand under the table.

“You look great sis, Bea must be good for you.”

“She is, she takes really good care of me,” Allie giggled looking at Bea.

A waiter handed them all a menu, Alex had already ordered a bottle of wine but as they both had to work they both decided to just have water. After deciding what to order Alex beckoned the waiter back over giving him their order. They all chatted as they waited for their meals and Allie started to relax a little more but still kept a tight hold of Beas hand until the food was brought over and she had no choice but to let go.

“So, Alex, you said you had something to tell me.”

“I certainly do, and for you to understand I have to start at the beginning.”

Allie just nodded. Alex started to explain, after her parents had kicked her out of her grandmothers house and sold it to a cash buyer no one knew where Allie had gone. After the funeral there was a Will reading a week later and that caused some trouble, her grandma had left the house to Allie plus $100,000 each to Allie and Alex. Their parents had sold the house for $150,000, and within a week had spent most of it. The firm of solicitors who were handling the estate forced them to sell their house when they couldn’t repay the money, plus the house was worth more than that, another $75,000. As Allie couldn’t be traced the money that was hers had been put in trust until she could be found and there it had sat for the last 8 years. Allie couldn’t speak, she was shocked, she had $325,000 that she had never known about. And she was angry, not at Alex, but her parents had left her to live on the streets when she could have had a roof over her head and money in the bank. She turned to look at Bea and that anger just melted away, she knew if she had had all that back then she may never have met her, and she wouldn’t change what she had now for anything, she couldn’t imagine her life without Bea.

“That’s a lot to take in Alex.”

“I know it will be, but I work for the firm of solicitors who represented grandmas interests, so I can get you an appointment as soon as you feel ready.”

“But grandma never had any spare cash, how could she leave us that much?”

“Sneaky old bugger wasn’t she, no one knew about her savings.”

“Changing the subject a little, do you still see mum and dad?”

“If you can call the occasional visit to the cemetery seeing them then yes, dad died five years ago and mum died two years ago, I didn’t see much of them after what they did to you, didn’t want to, I could never understand how they could do that to you.”

The waiter came and cleared their plates leaving them with the desert menus, all of them agreeing that they didn’t want anything else as they all had to go to work, deciding to have a coffee as Alex didn’t want to leave just yet, he really had missed Allie.

“Me and Bea thought that maybe you wanted to tell me you were getting married.”

“Na, I did that four years ago, Victoria, she’s a doctor, and you have a nephew, Kyle, he’s just turned one.”

“I’m an auntie!” Allie almost choked on her coffee.

“Yes sis you are, and I know Vicky would love to meet you, but there’s plenty of time for that, don’t want to scare you away when I’ve just found you again.” He laughed.

They chatted for a little longer Alex showing them pictures of his wife and son before Bea glanced at the time seeing it was 2:30 already, Allie said that she would love to stay longer but she had to get to work, and Bea had already taken the morning off. Alex understood saying that he would call Allie soon and arrange another day to get together, which she agreed to, Bea offered to pay for their meal Alex dismissing that idea as it had been his idea to have lunch. They said their goodbyes leaving Alex in the restaurant. Bea drove Allie to bar, arriving before her shift was due to start.

“Can you believe that all this time I had money?”

“Doing my job sweetheart nothing ever surprises me anymore.”

“It’s just too much to take in, I had nothing for so long, or at least I thought I did, and now I’ve got everything I ever wanted, I don’t need the money.”

“Babe, try not to think about it too much just now, at least not right now.”

“Your right, are you going to work late to make up for the time you’ve wasted on me today?”

“Hey, no time with you is ever wasted, now go on or Will be sending a search party out for you.”

Allie leaned over and gave Bea a kiss before getting out of the SUV and heading off to the bar.  
Bea headed off to the office finding Franky was actually out chasing up leads on their missing person.

“Did everything go alright love?”

“Yes, you know I think it did, Allie has a lot to get her head around, like being an auntie for a start.”

Bea went to her office and gave Franky a call telling her to go back to the office and after she had filled her in on where she had got to in the case she could get off home and she would take over to make up for not being in till late. Franky arrived, there had been more than a few sightings of the teenager and a couple of people were going to call if they saw him again. Of course Franky was interested in how things had gone, Bea gave her the highlights before telling to get herself out of there, she didn’t need telling twice since Bridget would be home soon.

Bea spent a few hours out of the office, before she knew it it was almost 11pm, she headed back to the office quite optimistic that the case would be closed by the weekend. She pulled into the drive just after midnight, she had just got to the front door when Allie pulled up getting out of the car and walking towards her,

“Fancy seeing you here.”

“Hmmm, great timing I call it.”

“Me too, see anything you like?”

“Only you babe, only you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm working on the next chapter now. Also I've had an idea for a new story so I'll be working on that also, won't be posting that for a while though, I want to try and get a little in front with chapters for it so I may be writing two at once.


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So thanks to my forgetting that the clocks went back an hour here in the uk in the early hours I woke up at really stupid o'clock and wrote this chapter before even having a coffee.

It had been a week since they had met Alex, a full week and Allie was still struggling to wrap her head around what he had told her. She had called him again and arranged a time to go into the solicitors office but she hadn’t told Bea, secretly hoping that it was all a mistake and the money really didn’t exist. She’d been really quiet for most of the week and Bea hadn’t wanted to pressure her into making any decisions so had left her to it. That morning she had snapped at Bea and walked out of the house, leaving a very confused and agitated Bea behind, all she had done was ask if she wanted another coffee. If Bea was being honest with herself she was scared, scared she was going to lose her, she couldn’t stop the constant nagging in her head, it was driving her mad, she knew she had been a little distant and hadn’t paid Allie as much attention as she usually did. Allie was going to have a lot of money, she would be able to do whatever she wanted, so the feeling that she was going to just up and leave in her mind was justified.  
Pulling herself from her thoughts she tried to call her, her phone going straight to voicemail, she left her a message and hung up. Finishing her coffee she left the breakfast dishes in the sink not bothering to wash them and left the house for the office.

It was still early, she was the first one there, she went straight to her office and slammed the door behind her, taking a seat in her chair and putting her feet up on her desk, taking her phone out of her jacket pocket she tried calling Allie again still getting her voicemail. She thought about sending her a text but what would be the point her phone was obviously turned off and she didn’t want to talk to her. Hearing Liz arrive she just sighed knowing Franky would be in soon and she really wasn’t in the mood for her. Liz tapped on her office door opening it just enough to poke her head in,

“Everything ok love?”

“If I say no will ya keep Franky away from me?”

“It’ll take a lot more than me to keep Franky out of your office love. Want to tell me what’s wrong?”

“Maybe later Liz.”

“I’ll leave ya to it.”

Liz closed the door behind her, turning around just in time to see Franky walking in her usual grin plastered on her face.

“Mornin Liz, see Reds early this mornin.”

“She is love, but I’d leave her alone for a while.”

“Oh yer, what’s she up to in there, havin phone sex with blondie?”

Liz shot her a glare and shook her head before taking her seat behind her desk.

“Ok, I can take a hint, I’ll leave her alone…..for now anyway.”

A couple of hours had passed and Bea still hadn’t left her office, she’d tried calling Allie another half a dozen times still getting her voicemail in the end she just sent her a text.

**Please talk to me, let me know you’re ok. I love you x**

  
Not that she expected a response anytime soon she threw her phone down on her desk, turning her attention to her computer screen and trying to get some work done.

\------------------------------

Allie felt like shit, she was mad at herself for snapping at Bea, she hadn’t meant to, she didn’t even know why she had done it, “fuck sake she only asked if you wanted another coffee,” she said to herself. She had asked Will a couple of days ago if she could have the day off and after explaining why he was more than willing to help her out. She hated what she was doing, she hadn’t lied to Bea, she just hadn’t told her what she was doing so along with the now fast approaching meeting she was about to have she felt so guilty, pulling up outside the solicitors office she spotted Alex leaning against the wall waiting for her. She got out of the car and walked over to him.

“Hey sis, where’s Bea, I thought she would be here with you?”

“She’s at work, and I… well I didn’t tell her.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, guess I keep hoping that there isn’t any money, I don’t need it Alex, I’ve got all I need.”

“Come on, lets go in, Mr Stevens is waiting for you, everything is already in motion for the money to be transferred into your account all you need is to provide your proof of identity.”

“Can’t I just have it transferred to you?”

“Allie gran wanted you to have it, it was her final gift to you, she would be so mad if she heard you talking like this and you know it.”

“Yer I know, I still miss her ya know.”

“Hey me to, maybe we could go over to the cemetery after your done here, ya know, go and have a little chat to her.”

Allie smiled, she missed her gran, but she’d missed Alex just as much. They entered the office of Mr Stevens and Allie was even more nervous now than she had been when they met Alex, she wished she’d told Bea what she was thinking because right now she wanted her here, Bea made her feel safe, she kept her together when she felt like she was going to fall apart, she was her life, being without her long enough to go to work felt like a life time every day, and now she found herself in this office without her all thanks to her own stupidity.

After 45 minutes she was leaving the office, Alex in tow.

“Are you ok Allie?” Alex asked looking concerned.

“It’s too much, you said it was $325,000, how did it end up being $450,000?”

  
“Were you even listening? Some of the money had been invested earning you a profit, and then there was interest added to it.”

“Yer but…..fuck, I don’t even want it, I just want everything to be like it was before, with the exception of having you back in my life.”

“It’s a lot to take in I know, it’s a shock, you could just transfer it into a savings account and leave it until you really need it, you never know what might happen in the future, hey you and Bea might even end up getting married,” his serious tone disappearing with his last comment.

“Yer, or she could just tell me to leave.”

“Allie….where is that coming from? She loves you, even a blind person could see how much.”

“I just don’t want things to change between us.”

“And you think that because you have some money in the bank it’s going to change the way she feels? You are kidding me?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore……..will you still come to the cemetery with me?”

“Yer, come on, I think you need to get some of this nonsense outta ya head, and no one ever listened better than gran, we’ll take my car.”

They stopped at a florist on the way over to the cemetery, getting out of the car Allie took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. Alex placed his hand on her shoulder giving it a squeeze before leading her over to the their grans grave.

“Hey gran, look who I found, our little Allie, she’s finally here, she’s in a bit of a tangle though, so don’t be blaming me when she chews both ya ears off.”

He gave Allie a small smile, “I’ll wait for you in the car,” he said as he turned and walked away.

Allie just stood there for a minute, trying to get her thoughts together before sitting down on the grass beside the headstone.

“Hey gran, I’m sorry it took me so long to get here, my life was a mess, but I bet you already knew that. I don’t know why you had to leave me all this money, I really don’t need it, I have everything I need. I met someone, her names Bea, she’s so perfect, you’d love her and I know she’d love you. She has a daughter, Debbie, she’s at university studying law. I know this might sound so silly but truly I can’t imagine being without her, she’s the love of my life, I never thought I would ever feel like this, I didn’t think it was possible. I know you always said that there was someone out there just waiting to find me, my forever person, and you know, I finally believe that, she is my forever. But I’m scared gran, what if she leaves me now because of all this money, I whish you were still here. I was so stupid this morning, I snapped at her for no reason and…..I’m sorry gran I have to go. I love you.”

Allie suddenly realised that she hadn’t turned her phone back on. Placing the flowers on the grave she stood up and started walking back to the car, taking her phone out of her bag and turning it on. When she got back in the car she saw a voicemail and a text, opening the text she knew she was being so stupid, Bea loved her, deep down she knew that, she’d made a mess and she was going to sort it out. Sending Bea a text was the first step.

**Bea, I’m so sorry for snapping at you this morning, I’m ok, really I am. Are you at work? Can I take you to lunch? I love you too, so very much xx**

Alex dropped her off back at the car, but she still hadn’t heard from Bea.

\------------------------------

Bea looked away from her computer screen at her phone seeing a text from Allie she read it straight away. She smiled a little, but decided not to answer her straight away, she had been waiting hours to hear from her, a few minutes waiting to send a reply wasn’t going to hurt. Hearing a knock on her office door she assumed it was Liz after all Franky very rarely ever knocked on her door, the door opened and in walked Franky.

“Bridget started teaching you some manners finally?”

“Na Red, had manners all along, Liz asked me to leave ya alone so I did.”

“You listened to Liz? Wonders never cease.”

“So everything ok, had a fight with blondie did ya?”

Franky crossed the office taking a seat.

“No, she’s just been quiet since last week and I thought I was doing the right thing letting her think things through, but this morning she nearly bit my bloody head off.”

“Oh and let me guess you’ve been ya usual self, puttin distance between the two of ya?”

“Yer I guess, fuck, shouldn’t have been doing that should I?”

“Errr…..NO!”

“Shit….I fucked up.”

“It’s ok Red, you’ve got the make up sex to look forward to.”

Bea just shook her head.

“Ok, I’ll leave ya to it, but try and sort ya self out, feeling sorry for ya self is not a good look on ya.”

Franky got up and left, actually closing the door behind her quietly. Bea thought for a moment before picking her phone up and replying to the text Allie sent her.

**Forget about this morning, it really doesn’t matter. Lunch sounds great but are you sure you have the time? I love you beautiful girl xx**

Before she could even put her phone back down she received a text

**I’m on my way over now xx**

Bea smiled, getting up from her chair picking her phone up and putting it in her pocket before walking out of her office to wait for Allie.

“You going for lunch love?”

“Yer, just waiting for Allie.”

“So ya feeling better now aye?”

“A little, just need to sort some things out is all.”

The door flew open and Allie walked in her eyes landing on Bea the second she walked in, walking towards her she flung her arms round her and hugged her whispering in her ear,

“I’m so sorry about this morning, I love you so much.”

“I know Alliecat, I love you to, more than you will ever know.”

Removing her arms from around Beas waist she took hold of her hand entwining their fingers and leading her out of the office and over to the car.

“I’ve been so stupid Bea, I thought I could deal with everything on my own but I know I can’t.”

“Allie we can sort it out, but right now I’m starving can we just go and get some lunch so you can get back to work.”

Getting in the car Allie knew she had to be honest.

“I don’t need to go back to work because I had the day off.”

Bea looked at her a little confused but didn’t say anything waiting for Allie to tell her why. Arriving at the diner they got out of the car, Allie grabbing her bag before they went inside, it was pretty quiet for a lunch time, but that was why Allie picked that diner, it never got busy until dinner time. They found a booth right at the back, far away from the few people that were already there so they could talk.

“I really am sorry about this morning.”

“I know, and I told you it’s forgotten.”

“You say that now.”

The waitress came over to take their orders, both ordering a coffee and grilled cheese sandwich. Bea took Allies hand across the table giving it a squeeze. Allie swallowing down the lump that had formed in her throat.

“I shouldn’t have kept it from you, I didn’t lie to you, I just didn’t tell you, but this morning I went to the solicitors office.”

  
“Ok, how did it go?”

Allie shook her head.

“It’s too much Bea.”

Allie retrieved some documents from her bag and and slid them over the table to Bea who looked down at them, turning the pages with her free hand, her mouth turning dry when she saw the amount that Allie had received.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You aren’t going to leave me are you? I’ll give it all away, I don’t need the money I just need you.”

“Why would you think I would leave you? Allie, it’s me that should be worried, you can do anything that you want, and I’m certain you can find someone better than me.” Bea just hung her head, she felt like crying.

“What? No, I don’t want anyone else, I’ll never want anyone else. And there is nobody better than you for me."

The waitress brought their food and coffees over and left them to it.

“Alex took me over to my grans grave after we left the solicitors office. I told her about you, about Debbie. And I remembered something she used to tell me, she said that there was someone out there waiting to find me, and she was right, you found me, your my forever Bea I can’t be without you, I love you so much.” She sobbed.

“Hey, stop that, I’m not going anywhere, I’m here for as long as you want me to be here.”

“I’ll want you forever, there is no one else for me.”

They ate in silence, their hands still joined across the table, Bea extremely glad that they hadn’t ordered anything that required a knife and fork to eat. When they had finished Allie paid the bill much to the disapproval of Bea.

“Do you have to work this afternoon.” Allie asked a little sadness in her voice?

“I guess I could call it a day, why what have you got in mind?”

“Nothing much, I just don’t want to spend anymore time apart from you today, and I need your advice.”

“My advice, I’m not sure how much help I’ll be.”

“So, are you going back to the office and staying or just to tell Liz and Franky you’re going home?”

“Definitely the going home option, now come on get a move on, I want to get you home.” She winked and smiled at Allie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may spend some time working on my new story today, although I'm not in any rush with that one, so I will at least be starting on the next chapter of this one, weather I get another chapter posted today is another story in itself.


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So thanks to my forgetting that the clocks went back an hour here in them uk in the early hours I woke up at really stupid o'clock and wrote this chapter before even having a coffee.

It had been a week since they had met Alex, a full week and Allie was still struggling to wrap her head around what he had told her. She had called him again and arranged a time to go into the solicitors office but she hadn’t told Bea, secretly hoping that it was all a mistake and the money really didn’t exist. She’d been really quiet for most of the week and Bea hadn’t wanted to pressure her into making any decisions so had left her to it. That morning she had snapped at Bea and walked out of the house, leaving a very confused and agitated Bea behind, all she had done was ask if she wanted another coffee. If Bea was being honest with herself she was scared, scared she was going to lose her, she couldn’t stop the constant nagging in her head, it was driving her mad, she knew she had been a little distant and hadn’t paid Allie as much attention as she usually did. Allie was going to have a lot of money, she would be able to do whatever she wanted, so the feeling that she was going to just up and leave in her mind was justified.  
Pulling herself from her thoughts she tried to call her, her phone going straight to voicemail, she left her a message and hung up. Finishing her coffee she left the breakfast dishes in the sink not bothering to wash them and left the house for the office.

It was still early, she was the first one there, she went straight to her office and slammed the door behind her, taking a seat in her chair and putting her feet up on her desk, taking her phone out of her jacket pocket she tried calling Allie again still getting her voicemail. She thought about sending her a text but what would be the point her phone was obviously turned off and she didn’t want to talk to her. Hearing Liz arrive she just sighed knowing Franky would be in soon and she really wasn’t in the mood for her. Liz tapped on her office door opening it just enough to poke her head in,

“Everything ok love?”

“If I say no will ya keep Franky away from me?”

“It’ll take a lot more than me to keep Franky out of your office love. Want to tell me what’s wrong?”

“Maybe later Liz.”

“I’ll leave ya to it.”

Liz closed the door behind her, turning around just in time to see Franky walking in her usual grin plastered on her face.

“Mornin Liz, see Reds early this mornin.”

“She is love, but I’d leave her alone for a while.”

“Oh yer, what’s she up to in there, havin phone sex with blondie?”

Liz shot her a glare and shook her head before taking her seat behind her desk.

“Ok, I can take a hint, I’ll leave her alone…..for now anyway.”

A couple of hours had passed and Bea still hadn’t left her office, she’d tried calling Allie another half a dozen times still getting her voicemail in the end she just sent her a text.

**Please talk to me, let me know you’re ok. I love you x**

  
Not that she expected a response anytime soon she threw her phone down on her desk, turning her attention to her computer screen and trying to get some work done.

\------------------------------

Allie felt like shit, she was mad at herself for snapping at Bea, she hadn’t meant to, she didn’t even know why she had done it, “fuck sake she only asked if you wanted another coffee,” she said to herself. She had asked Will a couple of days ago if she could have the day off and after explaining why he was more than willing to help her out. She hated what she was doing, she hadn’t lied to Bea, she just hadn’t told her what she was doing so along with the now fast approaching meeting she was about to have she felt so guilty, pulling up outside the solicitors office she spotted Alex leaning against the wall waiting for her. She got out of the car and walked over to him.

“Hey sis, where’s Bea, I thought she would be here with you?”

“She’s at work, and I… well I didn’t tell her.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know, guess I keep hoping that there isn’t any money, I don’t need it Alex, I’ve got all I need.”

“Come on, lets go in, Mr Stevens is waiting for you, everything is already in motion for the money to be transferred into your account all you need is to provide your proof of identity.”

“Can’t I just have it transferred to you?”

“Allie gran wanted you to have it, it was her final gift to you, she would be so mad if she heard you talking like this and you know it.”

“Yer I know, I still miss her ya know.”

“Hey me to, maybe we could go over to the cemetery after your done here, ya know, go and have a little chat to her.”

Allie smiled, she missed her gran, but she’d missed Alex just as much. They entered the office of Mr Stevens and Allie was even more nervous now than she had been when they met Alex, she wished she’d told Bea what she was thinking because right now she wanted her here, Bea made her feel safe, she kept her together when she felt like she was going to fall apart, she was her life, being without her long enough to go to work felt like a life time every day, and now she found herself in this office without her all thanks to her own stupidity.

After 45 minutes she was leaving the office, Alex in tow.

“Are you ok Allie?” Alex asked looking concerned.

“It’s too much, you said it was $325,000, how did it end up being $450,000?”

  
“Were you even listening? Some of the money had been invested earning you a profit, and then there was interest added to it.”

“Yer but…..fuck, I don’t even want it, I just want everything to be like it was before, with the exception of having you back in my life.”

“It’s a lot to take in I know, it’s a shock, you could just transfer it into a savings account and leave it until you really need it, you never know what might happen in the future, hey you and Bea might even end up getting married,” his serious tone disappearing with his last comment.

“Yer, or she could just tell me to leave.”

“Allie….where is that coming from? She loves you, even a blind person could see how much.”

“I just don’t want things to change between us.”

“And you think that because you have some money in the bank it’s going to change the way she feels? You are kidding me?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore……..will you still come to the cemetery with me?”

“Yer, come on, I think you need to get some of this nonsense outta ya head, and no one ever listened better than gran, we’ll take my car.”

They stopped at a florist on the way over to the cemetery, getting out of the car Allie took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. Alex placed his hand on her shoulder giving it a squeeze before leading her over to the their grans grave.

“Hey gran, look who I found, our little Allie, she’s finally here, she’s in a bit of a tangle though, so don’t be blaming me when she chews both ya ears off.”

He gave Allie a small smile, “I’ll wait for you in the car,” he said as he turned and walked away.

Allie just stood there for a minute, trying to get her thoughts together before sitting down on the grass beside the headstone.

“Hey gran, I’m sorry it took me so long to get here, my life was a mess, but I bet you already knew that. I don’t know why you had to leave me all this money, I really don’t need it, I have everything I need. I met someone, her names Bea, she’s so perfect, you’d love her and I know she’d love you. She has a daughter, Debbie, she’s at university studying law. I know this might sound so silly but truly I can’t imagine being without her, she’s the love of my life, I never thought I would ever feel like this, I didn’t think it was possible. I know you always said that there was someone out there just waiting to find me, my forever person, and you know, I finally believe that, she is my forever. But I’m scared gran, what if she leaves me now because of all this money, I whish you were still here. I was so stupid this morning, I snapped at her for no reason and…..I’m sorry gran I have to go. I love you.”

Allie suddenly realised that she hadn’t turned her phone back on. Placing the flowers on the grave she stood up and started walking back to the car, taking her phone out of her bag and turning it on. When she got back in the car she saw a voicemail and a text, opening the text she knew she was being so stupid, Bea loved her, deep down she knew that, she’d made a mess and she was going to sort it out. Sending Bea a text was the first step.

**Bea, I’m so sorry for snapping at you this morning, I’m ok, really I am. Are you at work? Can I take you to lunch? I love you too, so very much xx**

Alex dropped her off back at the car, but she still hadn’t heard from Bea.

\------------------------------

Bea looked away from her computer screen at her phone seeing a text from Allie she read it straight away. She smiled a little, but decided not to answer her straight away, she had been waiting hours to hear from her, a few minutes waiting to send a reply wasn’t going to hurt. Hearing a knock on her office door she assumed it was Liz after all Franky very rarely ever knocked on her door, the door opened and in walked Franky.

“Bridget started teaching you some manners finally?”

“Na Red, had manners all along, Liz asked me to leave ya alone so I did.”

“You listened to Liz? Wonders never cease.”

“So everything ok, had a fight with blondie did ya?”

Franky crossed the office taking a seat.

“No, she’s just been quiet since last week and I thought I was doing the right thing letting her think things through, but this morning she nearly bit my bloody head off.”

“Oh and let me guess you’ve been ya usual self, puttin distance between the two of ya?”

“Yer I guess, fuck, shouldn’t have been doing that should I?”

“Errr…..NO!”

“Shit….I fucked up.”

“It’s ok Red, you’ve got the make up sex to look forward to.”

Bea just shook her head.

“Ok, I’ll leave ya to it, but try and sort ya self out, feeling sorry for ya self is not a good look on ya.”

Franky got up and left, actually closing the door behind her quietly. Bea thought for a moment before picking her phone up and replying to the text Allie sent her.

**Forget about this morning, it really doesn’t matter. Lunch sounds great but are you sure you have the time? I love you beautiful girl xx**

Before she could even put her phone back down she received a text

**I’m on my way over now xx**

Bea smiled, getting up from her chair picking her phone up and putting it in her pocket before walking out of her office to wait for Allie.

“You going for lunch love?”

“Yer, just waiting for Allie.”

“So ya feeling better now aye?”

“A little, just need to sort some things out is all.”

The door flew open and Allie walked in her eyes landing on Bea the second she walked in, walking towards her she flung her arms round her and hugged her whispering in her ear,

“I’m so sorry about this morning, I love you so much.”

“I know Alliecat, I love you to, more than you will ever know.”

Removing her arms from around Beas waist she took hold of her hand entwining their fingers and leading her out of the office and over to the car.

“I’ve been so stupid Bea, I thought I could deal with everything on my own but I know I can’t.”

“Allie we can sort it out, but right now I’m starving can we just go and get some lunch so you can get back to work.”

Getting in the car Allie knew she had to be honest.

“I don’t need to go back to work because I had the day off.”

Bea looked at her a little confused but didn’t say anything waiting for Allie to tell her why. Arriving at the diner they got out of the car, Allie grabbing her bag before they went inside, it was pretty quiet for a lunch time, but that was why Allie picked that diner, it never got busy until dinner time. They found a booth right at the back, far away from the few people that were already there so they could talk.

“I really am sorry about this morning.”

“I know, and I told you it’s forgotten.”

“You say that now.”

The waitress came over to take their orders, both ordering a coffee and grilled cheese sandwich. Bea took Allies hand across the table giving it a squeeze. Allie swallowing down the lump that had formed in her throat.

“I shouldn’t have kept it from you, I didn’t lie to you, I just didn’t tell you, but this morning I went to the solicitors office.”

  
“Ok, how did it go?”

Allie shook her head.

“It’s too much Bea.”

Allie retrieved some documents from her bag and and slid them over the table to Bea who looked down at them, turning the pages with her free hand, her mouth turning dry when she saw the amount that Allie had received.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You aren’t going to leave me are you? I’ll give it all away, I don’t need the money I just need you.”

“Why would you think I would leave you? Allie, it’s me that should be worried, you can do anything that you want, and I’m certain you can find someone better than me.” Bea just hung her head, she felt like crying.

“What? No, I don’t want anyone else, I’ll never want anyone else. And there is nobody better than you for me."

The waitress brought their food and coffees over and left them to it.

“Alex took me over to my grans grave after we left the solicitors office. I told her about you, about Debbie. And I remembered something she used to tell me, she said that there was someone out there waiting to find me, and she was right, you found me, your my forever Bea I can’t be without you, I love you so much.” She sobbed.

“Hey, stop that, I’m not going anywhere, I’m here for as long as you want me to be here.”

“I’ll want you forever, there is no one else for me.”

They ate in silence, their hands still joined across the table, Bea extremely glad that they hadn’t ordered anything that required a knife and fork to eat. When they had finished Allie paid the bill much to the disapproval of Bea.

“Do you have to work this afternoon.” Allie asked a little sadness in her voice?

“I guess I could call it a day, why what have you got in mind?”

“Nothing much, I just don’t want to spend anymore time apart from you today, and I need your advice.”

“My advice, I’m not sure how much help I’ll be.”

“So, are you going back to the office and staying or just to tell Liz and Franky you’re going home?”

“Definitely the going home option, now come on get a move on, I want to get you home.” She winked and smiled at Allie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may spend some time working on my new story today, although I'm not in any rush with that one, so I will at least be starting on the next chapter of this one, weather I get another chapter posted today is another story in itself.


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure I like this chapter, I've had one of those days and my concentration has been all over the place.

_A month later…._

  
Allie still hadn’t made any plans as far as her unexpected windfall went, Bea hadn’t been much help saying that it was her money and she could do what she wanted with it, but that was the problem she didn’t have any ideas what she wanted to do with it since she still didn’t really want it. She thought of buying herself a car but after several trips to different car dealerships she still couldn’t decide which one she wanted, on one Sunday afternoon trip to a dealership Bea had walked off in a huff after Allie had looked at almost every car they had and then gone right back to looking at them all again. Allies indecisiveness just got on her last nerve that day and she didn’t want to upset her by saying something that she would regret in the end so she just walked off and sat in the car. Allie hadn’t noticed she’d even gone at first until she had asked for her opinion about the car she was looking at, getting no response she turned around to find that she was no longer standing behind her. After looking around for her she had spotted her sat in the car, head thrown back against the headrest with her eyes closed. Making her way out to the car she stopped and looked at her for a few seconds deciding that she was done with the whole looking for a car business forever. Walking round the car to the drivers side she got in,

“I’m never going to find anything that I really like so I give up.”

Bea opened her eyes turning her head slightly to look at her

“Have you any idea what kind of car you really want?”

“Not a clue.”

“So are we going to keep doing this every Sunday?”

“No, I’m giving up, maybe I should take up running then you can have ya car back,” she joked.

Bea sat up properly in her seat turning more towards Allie with a raised eyebrow and a grin on her face.

“Now that’s something I really wouldn’t mind watching.”

“Bea Smith….really!”

“What? I was only meaning that I haven’t seen you run, I’m not sure you know how.”

“Only because I don’t see the point.”

“It’s good exercise.”

“Na, don’t believe that.”

“It is, it gets your heart rate up and gets ya all hot and sweaty.”

“Yer, and I can think of another way far more pleasurable to do all those things.”

  
\------------------------------

Once back at home they settled down on the sofa with a coffee and Beas laptop. Bea deciding that she wasn’t going to let Allie give up looking for a car but it was much more desirable to do it from the comfort of the sofa.

“So come on, as you don’t have to worry about the cost, what’s your dream car?”

“Oh ya know, wouldn’t mind having a Porsche 718 Boxster GTS, don’t like the price though, I’m not paying over $110,000, for a car.”

Bea almost spat her coffee out.

“How much?”

“That’s what I thought, but I would like something that’s a bit different.”

“Na you just want to show off.”

“NO….I want to show you off….fuck ya would so hot in a sports car,” Allie giggled.

Be passed her the lap top after she found a site she was looking for.

“Look on here, you don’t have to spend so much just for a car.”

“I know, but I can dream can’t l?”

“Course ya can, now you look and I’ll make a start on dinner.”

Bea wondered off to the kitchen not actually sure what they were having for dinner but she knew she was fed up of talking about cars. After twenty minutes she decided on pasta with a homemade tomato and chilli sauce. Thirty minutes later she heard a squeal coming from the lounge and a very excited Allie went rushing into the kitchen, laptop in hand. Putting the laptop down on the table she grabbed Bea by the hand and pulled her over to the table.

“I’ve found it, the perfect car.”

“Jesus Allie, I thought something was wrong.”

“Sorry….but look, a BMW 335i M Sport E93, and it’s only $39,000, I’m going to phone them in the morning, can you come with me to look at it?”

Bea groaned, “If I say yes can we please stop talking about cars?”

“Not into cars are ya?”

“No, as long as it gets me from a to b what’s to be bothered about?”

\------------------------------

Next morning Allie had woken up way before the alarm went off, she had tried to go back to sleep but she was excited, the car dealership opened at 8am and she just couldn’t wait to phone them to check they still had the car. She got out of bed and had a long shower, wanting to waste some time. Bea was still asleep when she had finished her shower and got dressed, she knew it was going to be a long day for her, waking up so early and this week she was locking the bar up so she wasn’t going to home till late. The alarm went off while she was still in the bedroom, she stood and watched as Bea rolled over and reached out to turn the alarm off before rolling back over and stretching her arm out finding Allies side of the bed empty and cold, she just groaned as she opened her eyes, blinking a few times she spotted Allie stood watching her.

“Stop staring.”

“I’m not I’m just watching you wake up.”

“Why are you up so early?”

“Couldn’t sleep could I?”

“You just really want that car don’t ya?”

“Yer I do, and I still have to wait another hour before I can phone them, so you go and shower and I’ll make breakfast.”

Allie was just about to walk out of the bedroom,

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“Well I was going to start breakfast, did you want something?”

“No, I’ll just go and shower,” Bea said sulkily.

Allie turned around and walked back over to the bed and almost throwing herself back onto it before throwing her arms round Bea and pulling her in close.

“What’s up did ya miss me?”

“I just don’t like waking up on my own.”

“Technically you weren’t actually on ya own I was still in the room.”

“Stop splitting hairs, you weren’t still in bed were ya?”

“Your such a baby sometimes, feel better now?”

“Hmmm, much, guess you can go now.”

“Right get ya self in the shower.”

Allie got up and went downstairs, starting the coffee she glanced at the time, 7:24, going back to the task in hand she decided that she wasn’t actually that hungry but decided on bacon and eggs for Bea and just toast for herself. By the time they had both had breakfast it was just gone 8am, Allie left Bea to do the dishes while she phoned the dealership. Almost running back into the kitchen she wrapped her arms around Beas waist.

“They’ve still got it, can we go now?”

Bea laughed.

“Yes, come on, lets go.”

When they arrived at the dealership Allie almost ran inside, Bea just shook her head and walked in slowly, finding Allie looking at the car and being given all the information by one of the salesmen, as Bea walked over and looked the car over she had to admit that it was nice, but cars really weren’t her thing.

“Babe what do you think? Should I buy it?”

“If it’s really what you want I think you can do as you like.”

“Yer, but I want to know if you like it.”

“I like it, but it’s still only a car.”

“You won’t be angry if I buy it?”

“Why would I be?”

Taking Beas hand they followed the salesman into the office so Allie could fill out all the necessary paperwork, paying in full by bank transfer after calling her bank to sort it out, before calling the same insurance company that Bea used to get it insured.

“Will you be ok if I leave you here, I really need to get to work?”

“I think I’ll live, they are going to valet it before I can have it, I’ll come over to your office as soon as I’ve got it then you can have a proper look.”

“Franky will love that, she’s a sucker for a nice car.”

“Oh great, you aren’t bothered and Franky will be interested, I’m sure I’ll get you interested before the end of the week.”

“Well you can try.”

An hour and a half later Allie pulled up outside Beas office and headed inside.

“Morning love, Beas in her office with Franky.”

“Are they busy? I guess I could come back later.”

“They’re just discussing a new case, they shouldn’t be much longer they’ve been in there for an hour.”

  
Just then the door was thrown open and a grinning Franky appeared followed by Bea.

“Oh hey blondie, come to show off ya new wheels?”

“I came to let Bea have a proper look I’m not showing anything off.”

All four of them went outside.

“Bloody hell blondie you’ve got good taste in cars, shame I can’t say the same about your taste in women.”

Bea elbowed Franky in the ribs.

“Oh come on Red ya know I don’t mean it.”

“Franky, your just jealous cos I’ve got an extremely hot girlfriend and a hot car.”

Franky shook her head and went back inside followed by Liz.

Bea wrapped her arms around Allies waist.

“Are you happy now?”

“I’m always happy when I’m with you.”

“As much as I don’t want to I have to get back to work.”

Allie sighed, “yer I guess you do, I’ll see you tonight babe, and I won’t be boring you with anymore car talk.”

Bea gave Allie a quick kiss before going back inside, Allie went home to get ready for work, a big smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As tomorrow is Halloween I may not get a chapter posted, but I will try.


	46. Chapter 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bea calls her dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween.
> 
> Just a short chapter today as I'm going to be busy.

The next evening Bea was at home alone having already decided earlier in the day that she was going to call her dad and then her brother. Wanting to make make sure that she didn’t call call too late owing to the two hour time difference she decided on having dinner later than usual. Picking up her phone from the coffee table she felt nervous, her dad had met Franky on numerous occasions and he had always been fine with her, and Franky being Franky that had always surprised her given the amount of inappropriate comments she had made in his presence and the one time Franky had so openly and unashamedly tried to hit on Bea when her dad was there, he had laughed it off saying Franky had no chance with his baby girl, still that was just how Franky was and everyone knew it, trying to ignore her ever growing nerves she scrolled to her dads number at hit call.

After what had felt like an eternity to Bea, but was really only a few seconds, her dad answered.

“Bea, I’m so glad you called, I was just thinking about you.”

“Hey dad, me to.”

“So how is everything?Deb called me last week she sounds like she’s really enjoying uni.”

“Yer she is, it’s really strange not having her at home though.”

“I know how that feels remember.”

They chatted for a few minutes, Bea telling him about work and a couple of funny stories involving Franky causing her dad to almost drop his phone once he was laughing so hard.

“So have you organised your trip out here for Christmas yet?”

“No not yet, actually that’s why I wanted to call you, I’ve met someone and I was hoping you wouldn’t mind if they came with me and Deb for Christmas.”

“Baby girl that fantastic news, where did you meet him, what’s his name, does he get on with Deb?”

“Wow dad slow down…..actually he is a she, I met her while I was working on a case, her names Allie and yes Deb gets on with her.”

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line and Beas stomach felt like it was doing back flips, all she could do was worry what he would say next.

“Ok, I’m not gonna lie that’s a surprise, she must be something else if she can do what Franky or anyone else for that matter never could.”

“Oh dad she is, she’s beautiful, kind, intelligent and so sweet and loving.” Bea gushed.

“Then she must be really special, and you know what, I’m happy for you, I didn’t think I’d ever see the day that you were asking me if it would be ok for you bring someone home with you, other than Franky that is,” he laughed.

“So your ok with it?”

“Course I am, your my baby girl and don’t you forget that, as long as your happy then I’m happy for you.”

“You have no idea how happy I am that you said that, if you’d have been angry then I don’t know what I would have done.”

“Yer you do, you’d have dug your heels in and told me to piss off, but honestly I’m really am happy for ya.”

They chatted for a few more minutes before her dad said he had to go. Ending the call she slumped back on the sofa happy that so far things were going ok, she really knew deep down that if her dad hadn’t accepted her being with Allie that she wouldn’t have been going home for Christmas, she didn’t want to leave Allie on her own.

Sitting up a little her nerves kicking in at full force again she called her brother, they chatted about everyday stuff until Bea had admitted what she was really calling for. Her brother was over the moon almost causing Bea to almost go deaf when he shouted a little too close to the phone to get his wife’s attention, Bea could hear Jessica in the background saying how great it was and asking to speak to Bea, Andrew passing the phone over they spoke for a few minutes before she passed the phone back. They chatted a little longer before Bea said that she really needed to get something to eat and they said their goodbyes.

Bea didn’t think she had ever been so relieved in her life, she wasn’t all that hungry now so just had a sandwich, deciding to send Allie a text.

**Finally called my dad and Andrew, they can’t wait to meet you xx**

Not expecting a reply she was just about to put her phone down when it started ringing, seeing Allies name on the screen she answered straight away.

“Shouldn’t you be working?”

“Na, I’m on my break, sooo…..what did they say?”

“Well dad said he was happy for me, a little shocked at first, but he’s fine with us being together.”

“And your brother?”

“Almost the same, strangely without the being shocked part, and his wife can’t wait to meet you.”

“Really?”

“Yes really, so are you coming with us for Christmas?”

“I…um…..guess I am if you really want me to.”

“Course I want you to, if you decide you don’t want to then I’m not going either.”

“Not giving me too much choice here are ya babe?”

  
“Nope, I want you to come with me.”

“Have you asked Debbie? Maybe she won’t want me intruding on your family Christmas.”

“Are you kidding….Debbie isn’t going to want me being miserable over Christmas, think she had enough of seeing me like that.”

“Ok, but you will check with her won’t you?”

“If that’s what you want then yes, maybe we could video call her at the weekend then you won’t be in any doubt.”

“Yer, sounds good to me, I better go though my breaks almost over, I love you.”

“I love you too, see you later.”

“You might not, your usually already asleep when I get home.”

“Yes but I always know that you’re there, don’t work too hard.”

“Oh you know me babe, I never do," Allie laughed.

Hanging up and putting her phone down on the coffee table Bea felt like she could finally relax, she had the hard part over, the conversation with Debbie was going to be a breeze. Christmas was only a month away, Bea went and retrieved her laptop so she could look for flights, finding what she wanted she booked three tickets before retreating upstairs to have a shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will have another chapter for you tomorrow although I can't be sure when it will get posted since it'll be Wednesday again and as always I'll be busy, but I will get another chapter written.


	47. Chapter 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you are as promised the next chapter. I can't quite believe how much I have actuall written sine I started this.

Sunday morning had rolled around again and they once again had chosen to spend their time laying in bed wrapped around each other.

“What time are you calling Debbie?”

“Not until after lunch, ya know what students are like, staying in bed all day.”

Allie laughed.

“I reckon we do a good impersonation of a couple of students then on a Sunday morning.”

“We have an excuse, we both go to work.”

“Do you wanna get up? We do have things to do.”

“Yer I know like go to the bloody supermarket, I say we ditch that idea stay her and live on takeaways for the next week.”

“God, Now you really do sound like a student.”

They both laughed, but really neither of them actually wanted to get out of bed until is was necessary. 

An hour later they decided that they had better get up when Allies stomach started growling. They chose to shower together just about managing to keep their hands to themselves, after getting dressed Bea decided that they may as well go to the diner on the way to the supermarket for breakfast since as far as anything they had in was mainly devoid of anything remotely looking like breakfast. Allie insisted that they take her car, and since it was pretty hot she had to have the top down.

“You really like showing off don’t ya?”

“Na, I told ya, I like showing you off, and trust me you look so fuckin hot sitting there.”

Bea giggled,

“Bet ya say that to all the girls.”

“Since you’re the only girl I ever want sitting next to me in my car I won’t ever be saying that to anyone but you babe.”

“Better not tell Franky that she just dying to get in here and have you take her for a spin.”

“Yer well, Franky can just go and spin.”

Arriving at the diner a few minutes later Bea was surprised when she saw Franky’s car in the small car park.

 

“I’m gonna tell her that ya said that,” nodding her head in the direction of Franky’s car.

“I’ll tell her myself, the only way I’m letting her in here is if she rides in the boot,” causing them both to laugh.

Entering the diner they spotted Franky and Bridget over in the far corner and headed over to them.

“What are you two doing here?”

“Gidge wants to go Christmas shopping and I don’t but I said if she bought me breakfast I’d go with her. Why are you here?”

“Oh ya know, empty fridge.”

“So are ya joinin us?”

Bea looked at Allie who just smiled and nodded her head taking a seat next to Bridget. Almost as soon as Bea sat down the waitress approached them, they all agreed on bacon and eggs with a side order of toast and coffee. The waitress disappeared returning a couple of minutes later with their coffee saying that their food wouldn’t be long before walking away to clean a table that had just been vacated.

“So blondie, when am I going to get a spin in that hot car of yours?”

Allie looked at her, raising her middle finger, “how about you just spin on that?”

“Oh, someone’s not in a very good mood today.”

Bea laughed and turned her head towards Franky.

“Allie said you could go and spin before we came in, in fact she says the only way your gettin a ride in her car is in the boot.”

“Ouch blondie that hurts, what did I ever do to you?”

“Nothin, not yet anyways.”

Their food arrived and they sat and ate, Allie winding Franky up when she said she would take Bridget for a ride in her car, Franky frowning and complaining to Bea that Allie was being really mean, causing Bridget and Allie to laugh.

“You’ll have to excuse her Allie, Franky doesn’t like being told no,” Bridget giggled.

“Doesn’t like using people’s real names either does she?”

“Hey, hey, I am still here you two do realise that, and I don’t call ya anything nasty do I?”

“No of course not sweetheart but you do realise that we have names no matter how cute you think your pet names for us are?”

“Ahh, Gidge, you’re just killing me over here ya know that?”

Finishing up their breakfast Bea tried paying for theirs but Bridget wasn’t having any of it, no amount of arguing or persuasion made Bridget give in so Bea just stopped protesting. They all headed outside and said their goodbyes. Franky and Bridget heading to the shopping mall, Bea and Allie to the supermarket. They finished up their shopping pretty quickly, grocery shopping was defiantly not one of Beas favourite things to do, she had always hated it but for some reason having Allie there with her made it more bearable, or maybe it was just the fact that she wasn’t having to do everything on her own anymore, she was so used to doing everything on her own and it had taken her a while to get used to it, causing a few disagreements between them along the way never anything serious and when Bea thought about it every disagreement had always been caused by her and nearly always over something really trivial, she would end up storming off in a huff and Allie was always the one that would apologise and try to make things right between them even though she never had anything to apologise for. Putting the bags in the boot Bea started to feel slightly guilty about their disagreements, grabbing hold of both of Allies hands after she had closed the boot and looking her straight in the eye.

“Bea are you alright?”

“Yes, but I’m sorry for always being the cause of our disagreements.”

“Babe you have nothing to be sorry for, everyone has disagreements.”

“I know that but I’m always the one who causes them and you always make things right again, I’m just so used to having to do everything by myself you know, not having all the responsibility on my shoulders takes some getting used to.”

“Hey I understand that, I’ve never had anyone to do things with, I’ve almost always only had myself to rely on, I’ve found it just as difficult ya know. But I love you and I want to share everything with you.”

“I think we need to get home and get the shopping put away before we call Deb.”

“Changing the subject now are ya?” Allie giggled.

“Yer just a little but we do need to go home.”

Bea let go of Allies hands and walked round to the passenger side of the car and got in, Allie getting in, starting the engine before putting on her seatbelt. She looked over at Bea who was looking out of the window.

“Errr, I don’t mean to nag but…..seatbelt.”

Bea turned her head towards Allie and smiled.

“Yes boss,” she said grinning at her.

Getting home Bea took most of the bags out of the boot only leaving a couple for Allie to take into the house, Bea took them straight through to the kitchen and put them on the table before going back to the lounge to turn her laptop on.

“Not that I’m complaining but I can carry more than two bags ya know.”

“I know, but we both know that you’ll end up putting most of it away so really it’s only fair for me to bring most of the bags in.”

“Ok, I’ll let you have that one,…..this time.”

They started putting the shopping away when Bea heard her laptop indicating an incoming video call, glancing at the clock it was on just 12:15, she walked back into the lounge took a seat on the sofa and answered the call.

“Deb, I thought we were calling you?”

“Well yer ya said you would but I thought I’d surprise ya.” 

They chatted for five minutes Debbie noticing that Allie still hadn’t appeared.

“Err, mum, not that I don’t like talking to you but where’s Allie, please tell me you haven’t caused an argument with her.”

Just then Allie walked out of the kitchen sitting next to Bea on the sofa.

“Hey Deb, and no Deb we haven’t had an argument, I was in the kitchen finishing putting the shopping away when you called.”

“That’s a relief, so what was it you both wanted to talk to me about?”

“Christmas, you know we always go to New Zealand and I’ve asked Allie to come with us but she wants to know if you are ok with her coming with us.”

Debbie’s facial expression changed from a grin to a serious look.

“Why are you even asking that Allie, of course I want you to come with us, I spoke to mum after she called grandad and uncle Andrew and I know they want to meet ya, why would I not want you to be there?”

“It’s just…..well it’s your time to be with your family, I don’t want to be in the way.”

“Allie you will never be in the way, haven’t you got it yet? You’re already part of our family, if mum was brave enough to call grandad and tell him about you that should be all the proof you need.”

“Her, I guess, I didn’t think of it like that.”

“I told her you were going to want her to come with us Deb, anyway I’m not letting her back out now I’ve already booked our tickets.”

“And when were you going to tell me that you had already booked them?”

“Well….I just did.”

Allie just shook her head.

“You really were that sure what Debbie was going to say weren’t ya?”

“Yep.”

They chatted with Debbie for another twenty minutes before she said that she had to go as she was going out with friends for the afternoon, they said their goodbyes and ended the call.

“I can’t believe you already booked the tickets.”

“Yer well, I told ya Deb would want you to come with us, and I wanted to book them so we all got a seat together.”

“Ok, I get that, guess I wouldn’t want to be sat next to some complete stranger, I’ve never flown before, I don’t think I could handle not having you sat next to me.”

They both returned to the kitchen to make their lunch, Bea telling Allie what they usually did over Christmas, they would be flying out on the 21st of December because Bea always did her Christmas shopping for her family while they were over there, it made more sense to her than having to drag gifts all the way over from Australia, they usually ended up having to pay for excess baggage on the way home because they always spoilt Debbie. After lunch they both decided that they were going to sit out in the garden, it was too warm to spend the day inside and neither of them wanted to wonder far from the house. They sat outside and chatted more about Christmas, Allie trying subtly to ask Bea if there was anything she would like, Bea realising what she was trying to do steered the conversation in a different direction. Later on they made dinner together then sat on the sofa and watched a movie, Bea falling asleep halfway through with her head resting on Allies shoulder. Allie had to wake her up when the movie had finished and at the time Bea hadn’t been all that thrilled to be woken up to be told that she really needed to go to bed, Allie locked up and turned the lights off on her way to bed finding Bea had fast asleep by the time she had made it out of the bathroom, she got in bed, turning on her side to face Bea, Bea instantly moving closer to Allie draping her arm over her waist and mumbling a very sleepy “goodnight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have another busy morning tomorrow but I will get the next chapter written and posted at some point tomorrow.


	48. Chapter 48

A couple of days had passed and Bea was sitting in her office trying to think of something that she could get Allie for Christmas but she couldn’t think of anything, she knew she wanted to get her something special, she spent the best part of the previous day looking online since work was slow and it was driving her crazy, she hated having nothing to do she got bored and Bea Smith did not handle boredom well, it made her feel uneasy and restless. Staring at her computer screen her phone rang seeing Wills name flash on the screen she couldn’t help but wonder why he was calling her.

“Hey Will, did ya call me by mistake?”

“Hi Bea, no, no, are you busy?”

“Unfortunately no, is anything wrong?”

“I hope not, I just had a call from Matt he needs to speak to you Allie and Kaz and the idiot broke his phone so hasn’t got your number, he was wondering if you could all meet him at your office in an hour.”

“That’s fine with me, are you going to phone Allie or do you want me to? “

“Might be better if I call her myself.”

“No worries Will, are you coming over as well?”

“I wasn’t planning on doing but if ya want me to I will.”

“I think you should.”

“Ok, I’ll call Allie and see you in about an hour.”

She ended the call wondering what Matt wanted, she knew it was probably something to to with the impending court case and that brought Harry into her thoughts, her phone ringing brought her back into the present, not looking at the screen she answered it.

“Hello.”

“Babe, has Will told you what Matt wants?”

“No, he just said that he needed to speak to us.”

“Are ya busy?”

“Busy boring myself to death.”

“So you wouldn’t mind if I come over now?”

“Course not, I can’t think of anything I’d like more.”

  
“I’m on my way,” Allie said as she hung up.

Bea couldn’t help but smile, Allie was always so eager to see her, she’d been like that ever since she’d moved in with Boomer, not that Bea minded, she secretly loved knowing that Allie always wanted to see her, to be where ever she was, and if she was ever totally honest with herself she felt exactly the same. Her thoughts wondered back to that night she had found her, the second she had seen her she’d wanted nothing more than to scoop her up in her arms and take care of her, and that had scared her to death, just the thought of wanting someone around, to care for someone other than Debbie had felt like more than she could handle, of course it had taken her a few days to realise that it was more than just wanting Allie around and sometimes she wished that she'd seen it straight away then she would never have sent her to live with Boomer, but that hadn’t changed anything between them, the fact that they were apart, or meant to be, had just made Bea admit to herself that she had made a mistake. She was sitting back in her chair her head thrown back looking up at the ceiling when Allie had arrived, opening her office door quietly Allie smiled to herself, Bea still wasn’t aware of her presence even when she crept across her office and almost threw herself into Beas Lap.

“What he fuck!” Bea mumbled as she threw her head forward coming face to face with Allie.

“Sorry babe, didn’t mean to scare ya but you looked distracted, mind if I ask what ya where thinking about?”

Bea raised her hands and placed them on either side of Allies face.

“You, I’m always thinking about you, I doubt I will ever stop.”

“Oh so that’s what ya spend your days doing when your meant to be working is it?”

“No, I think about you all the time working or not.”

“You say that now, one day someone better than me will come along and occupy your thoughts.”

“I can promise you that is never going to happen ever, I’m never going to want anyone else but you.”

Allie was still so insecure when it came to Bea, most of the time she still felt like she was dreaming, how could anyone like Bea want to be with her, but she did, she told her that constantly, still Allie couldn’t help thinking that one day it would all be over and she’d be alone again. A tapping on the door dragged Allie out of her thoughts.

Kaz opened the door slowly seeing Allie sat in Beas lap.

“God, do you two ever stop?”

“What’s up Kaz, jealous?” Allie giggled never taking her eyes away from Beas.

“Errr, NO…..but you two are quite sickening, you never quit.”

Franky appeared behind Kaz trying to see what she was on about, as Kaz walked more into the office she saw them.

  
“Oi, you two better keep it in your pants, I’m not listening to the pair of ya moaning.”

“Fuck off Franky,” Bea groaned.

“Ignore her babe, she’s just pissed off cos she couldn’t flirt her way into ya pants.”

Bea felt her face flush and she shook her head.

“Can we not do this?”

“Soooo, what’s going on here then anyway?”

“Matt wants to speak to us, should be here soon.”

“Need me to get lost then?”

Allie looked between Bea and Kaz and she knew they were both worried about what he had to tell them, looking at Franky who was now just looking serious.

“I think Franky should be here, she knows everything and we’ll only have to repeat the conversation later.”

Bea and Kaz both nodded in agreement.

“Is Will coming with him?”

“I asked him to when he called me.”

Franky disappeared in the direction of her office returning quickly with another chair, placing it down in front of the desk before sitting herself on the edge of Beas desk. They all sat in silence for a few minutes before they heard the main door open hearing Matt and Will chatting to one another, they both greeted Liz before entering Beas office closing the door behind them and taking a seat.

“So Matt I’m guessing this is about the court case.”

“You’re correct Bea, Tina Mercado has been charged with possession with intent to supply, conspiracy to supply and intimidation with intent to cause fear of physical or mental harm. Jake Stewart was charged with possession with the intent to supply, conspiracy to supply, misconduct in a public office and conveying prohibited items into a prison. Harry, unfortunately we could only charge him with possession with the intent to supply and conspiracy to supply.”

Bea looked around the room for a few seconds before she spoke again.

“So what does that mean, how long could they be sentenced to?”

“Tina is giving evidence so will most likely get a slightly lower sentence, but even so the minimum she is looking at is 10 years, the maximum is 20 years, Jake is the biggest loser in all this, he has not cooperated, he messed up getting stuck with the misconduct charge maximum for that is life. Harry, well he likes the sound of his own voice with his pleas of innocence, but he’s looking at an extra 15 to 25 years.”

“So I know you said Harry would have been slotted, is he back in general yet?”

“He was, for about an hour when he started fighting putting another prisoner in medical, he’s looking at extra charges for that, he’s back in the slot Bea, try not to worry so much.”

“That’s easy for you to say, so what about the others?”

“Both on remand, I hear Jake Stewart is in a whole world of hurt.”

“Good, I’m glad he is, fucking prick, he deserves all he gets,” Allie spat.

Bea just wrapped her arms around her waist and rested her head on her shoulder calming her down within seconds.

“So do we have a court date yet?” Kaz asked looking rather worried.

“I actually don’t have an exact date yet as I believe there are still some enquiries underway within the prison, but I’m assuming that it will be by the end of January.”

Matt looked at his watch, making his apologies that he had to leave as he had a meeting that he had to attend, but saying that if anything else came up he would meet with them all again. Will and Matt both left, Will telling Allie that he didn’t mind if she was a little late for her shift. Kaz also left not long after apologising because she needed to get back to work but said she would call Allie over the weekend and maybe the three of them could get a coffee.

Franky got off Beas desk and sat in one of the chairs.

“Sounds like they’re all going to be doing some time, and fuck that bent screw really fucked himself over.”

Bea looked over at her then back to Allie before she spoke.

“Harry’s gonna be pissed, he’s still got almost 13 years of his sentence left, 15 to 25 more years will really get to him.”

Allie shifted herself a little in Beas lap before she spoke.

“He deserves everything he gets and more, after everything he put you and Debbie through, if I ever get my hands on him he wont be breathing any more.”

“Hey blondie, don’t worry about it, he can’t keep himself out of trouble even locked up, I’m pretty sure one day someone will teach him a lesson, he’s not as tough as he thinks, I mean come on, the only way he could hold his head up in that place was to sell drugs, now he can’t do that, doubt another screw will be so easily convinced to help him. He’s finished one way or another, trust me you don’t ever want to come face to face with him.”

“I get it Franky I really do, but I can’t help but hate him for what he did, he tried to ruin the sweetest, kindest most considerate and loving woman I’ve ever met in my life.”

“Allie, stop will ya,” Bea protested.

“Uh uh, I can’t stop and I definitely won’t take it back because it’s all true.”

“Think that’s my cue to leave, you two really are sickeningly too sweet.” Franky said as she got up out of the chair, picking it up and taking it back to her office.

“Hadn’t you better be going to work?”

“I guess I should really, you won’t be late home will you?”

“I don’t think so, we don’t have too much to do, it always get really slow before Christmas, last year we were only working for three days a week until after the new year then it went crazy, we had to turn down new clients.”

“Good, I hate it when you’re late home when I finish at five.”

“I’m not too fond of you finishing at midnight you know, that's at least seven hours I have at home without you.”

Allie got up and turned towards Bea taking her hands and pulling her up and into a hug.

“I’m going to miss you.”

“I know, I’m going to miss you too, I always do, but we both have to work, well actually no, I have to work you could spend your days being a lady of leisure if you really wanted.”

“Hmmm, I guess, but then I’d have to keep coming to see you and you’d never get any work done.”

“Good point, I’ll see you at home.”

Bea kissed her before leading her by the hand out of her office, Allie said goodbye to Liz and Bea walked her outside stopping by her car before pulling her in close and kissing her again.

“Seriously Bea, now I’m going to miss you even more.”

Allie got into her car, blowing her a kiss before she set off for work. Bea went back inside deciding that they should close the office for an hour and the three of them go out for lunch, she could really do without sitting in her office all afternoon and they weren’t busy so could afford to take an hour off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After a busy morning I finally got this chapter finished.


	49. Chapter 49

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly I'd like to thank the kind reader who pointed out that chapter 48 had been posted twice, I'm still not sure how I managed to do that?
> 
> Also this chapter nearly didn't get posted today as I deleted it by accident, luckily I had it saved to my one drive and I only had to rewrite the ending, I almost kicked myself when I deleted it.

“Ok Red spit it out, I know you’ve got something on your mind.”

“It’s nothing Franky, don’t worry yourself about it.”

“Fuck sake, it’s Friday morning and ya walk in here with a face like a smacked arse, you and blondie had a row? Added to the fact that your late, and the Bea Smith I know is never late.”

“No we haven’t had a row, and I’m late because I needed to look for something.”

Franky just looked at Bea with a raised eyebrow, internally debating if she should push for more information. Finally deciding that she would leave it for now, but not for long, something was on her best friends mind and she was determined to find out what and help her anyway she could. She poured all three of them a coffee passing one to Liz first who looked up at her from her computer screen slightly stunned, it wasn’t very often Franky poured anyone but herself a coffee. Bea had sat in one of the comfortable chairs and was just staring out of the window, Franky took a seat next to her and offered her a mug.

“Come on Red it can’t be all that bad, we’re friends ain’t we?”

Bea just looked at her and nodded.

“Listen I know I tease ya and I get on your last nerve at times, but I’m here for ya, always will be, if you have a problem then so do I so tell me what’s on ya mind.”

Bea took a sip of her coffee and sighed, it’s not like it was the end of the world or anything, she’d never had to buy anything for anyone that she really cared about other than Debbie and her friends but she was struggling, she didn’t have a clue what to get Allie for Christmas, and deep down she knew she shouldn’t be so worried about it, it was just a present, but to her it was more than that, she wanted to find something that was perfect, something that matched Allies beauty and something that would convey just how much she loved her without words. She’d never had to worry about buying anything for Harry since all he ever wanted was to get drunk and spend his days with his mates down the pub over the holiday, that was why Bea and Debbie had always gone to spend Christmas with her dad since Debbie was five, he didn’t like the mess he said Christmas made, and he certainly didn’t like spending money on presents not even for his own daughter. She didn’t really want to tell Franky that her mood was just down to her own inability to find the perfect gift for Allie, but now she had been put on the spot, Franky’s eyes never left her and she knew she was waiting for her to say something.  
Finally she did speak.

“It’s just Christmas, that’s all.”

“Christmas, that’s it, but you love Christmas, it’s your time away in New Zealand with ya family and….shit, have you told ya dad, about Allie I mean? Fuck you haven’t have ya?”

“It’s not that, I’ve told my dad and Andrew their fine with me being with Allie.”

“Is she going with you and Deb or does she not want to meet ya family?”

“It’s not that either, she said she would only come with us if it was ok with Deb and Deb told her under no circumstances was she staying here on her own over Christmas, not that it mattered anyway cos I’d already booked the tickets.”

“Then I don’t get why ya worried, your going with the two most important people in your life to spend Christmas with ya family.”

Liz had been listening to their conversation but not wanting to interrupt. Franky could be understanding, and really she had a heart of gold, when it came to Bea she was always over protective, Liz had seen her on more than one occasion get into it with anyone who upset her, and on more than one occasion that someone had been Harry. Liz turned away from her computer and looked over at them both, she could tell what was bothering Bea, Franky may have been her best friend but Liz always had the knack of knowing what was worrying her, at times even before she had herself. Since a silence had descended between Franky and Bea Liz took the opportunity to speak.

“Bea love, you know I'm pretty certain Allie isn’t going to care what you get her for Christmas, as long as she’s with you that’s all she’ll care about.”

Bea shot her eyes over to Liz, of course Liz knew what was wrong, Liz always did. Bea could never hide anything from her so she’d given up trying a long time ago, but this was a stupid problem to be worrying about, if she was being honest with herself she could probably give Allie a pair of bloody socks and she would love them, that was just how Allie was, she didn’t ask for anything, didn’t expect anything, all she ever seemed to want was for them to be together when they could and it didn’t even matter what they were doing, Bea was sure she could be unblocking a blocked drain and Allie would be right by her side. Franky looked between Liz and Bea a smile suddenly creeping across her lips. Getting up from her seat she excused herself to her office.

“Well that was wired, no smart comments from Franky.”

“Yer Liz I know, it’s not like her.”

“Do you want some help? Looking for something I mean, I don’t mind.”

“I think I need a miracle, but your help would be appreciated, I’ve spent all week looking online and this morning I went over to the shopping mall, I just have no ideas, and she hasn’t given me any.”

“What are ya getting Debbie this year?”

“Oh you know Deb, been dropping hints that she needs a new laptop and printer, not that I’m surprised with all the work I imagine she has to do, we’re going to have a look for one for her on Sunday, ya know she’s even been telling me what specifications she’s looking for.”

“Well she is spoilt, she knows she only has to drop a hint and she’ll get it.”

“Yer, I just wish Allie would drop me a few hints.”

“I told ya love, it won’t matter what you get her, she’ll love it because you took your time to pick it for her.”

Bea took herself off to her office deciding that she needed to do at least a little work before Franky started giving her hell for doing nothing especially since she had gone to her own office some time ago.

\------------------------------

It was almost lunch time when Franky burst into Beas office announcing that her and Bridget were taking her out for lunch. Bea had tried to protest saying that she was quite happy to go over to the deli to get and sandwich and eat in her office but Franky was adamant that she had to go to lunch with them, leaving her in her office saying she better hurry up before walking out closing the door behind her and going over to have a word with Liz. When Bea walked out of her office Liz and Franky were talking to each other in a hushed tone, wondering what they were up to Bea spoke.

“What are you two up to?”

“Oh nothing love, just having a chat.”

“Since when does Franky Doyle have a chat in whispers?”

“Na Red we weren’t whispering, just talking quietly, now come on, Gidge will be waiting on us.”

They left the office and got into Franky’s car going to the diner that wasn’t far from the office that they sometimes went to for lunch when they needed time out of the office. As Franky had said Bridget was already there waiting for them at a table in the far corner. Franky and Bea took a seat across the table from Bridget, all the time Bea couldn’t help but wonder what Franky was up to and she wasn’t saying anything. Bridget was the first to speak.

“Franky told me you’re having a problem trying to find a Christmas gift for Allie.”

“Yer you could say that.”

“Forgive me if you think I’m overstepping here, but I have a friend who designs jewellery, she’s extremely talented and I know she’s working on a few new pieces at the moment, I thought maybe if you were interested I could take you over to her workshop and you could have a look.”

Bea was silent for a moment, she really hadn’t gotten to know Bridget all that well but here she was offering to help her.

“Yer, you know that sounds great.”

“Good, shall we order and I’ll take you over to meet her?”

They all ordered their lunch Franky opting for a burger and fries while Bea and Bridget both decided on a salad, Franky taking the piss out of them and asking if they were going on diets, earning her a kick under the table from Bea and a slap on the arm from Bridget. After lunch, this time Bea paying for it saying that she wanted to pay as a thank you for them helping her out. Franky said she was going back to the office and asked Bridget if she didn’t mind dropping Bea off when she had finished, of course she said it wasn’t a problem.

Bea and Bridget chatted a little about their plans for Christmas on the drive over to the workshop arriving there thirty minutes later. Walking inside Bea was amazed at some of the pieces of jewellery that she saw, they were all beautiful. Bea explained to Vera that she wasn’t really sure what she was looking for, Vera directing her over to one of her work benches with a few items on it that she was currently working on, Bea looked at each one carefully, the last piece she saw really grabbed her attention, it was a solid silver heart pendant with small diamonds surrounding the edge. She looked at it more closely than anything else she had seen.

“That ones almost finished, do you like it?”

“It’s almost perfect, but there’s something missing.”

“I haven’t put the centre stone in yet, if you want it you can chose what stone you would like.”

Vera took her through to another part of her workshop where she kept all her supplies asking her what colour stone she would want. Bea thought about it for a couple of minutes before deciding that blue would be the perfect choice.

“Can I ask what month your girlfriend was born?”

“August, why?”

“Then I may just have the perfect solution for you although it would make it a little more expensive.”

Bea just nodded her head unsure what she talking about but willing to let her run with it. Vera walked over to a large cupboard, opening it she spent a few moments looking for what she wanted before returning back to Bea with a small box in her hand. She began explaining that August actually had two birthstones one being peridot and that it was a lime green colour the second was spinel, this could be found in different colours red, orange and pink, but it also could be found in blue and that was the rarest colour, opening the box she showed Bea a single blue spinel stone, Bea gasped when she saw it, it was almost a perfect match for the colour of Allies eyes. Vera then went on to explained that spinel is believed to protect the owner from harm and soothe away sadness. They talked for a little longer Bea deciding that she wanted the pendant with the blue spinel stone set in the centre and that it would be paired with an 18 inch silver chain also custom made. Vera had enquired if Bea would want an inscription on the back. Eventually after talking to Bridget she decided that she did, Vera passed her a note pad asking her to write down what she wanted inscribing on it, after doing that Bea thanked Vera for all her help, Vera telling her that it would be ready by the following Wednesday as she would make finishing it her priority. Bea was unsure if she would be able to get back the next week to collect it but Bridget stepped in saying that she was on a late shift the next week and would be more than happy to collect it for her. Leaving the workshop they went back to Bridget’s car and headed back to the office.

“She makes amazing pieces didn’t she?”

“She really does.”

“And their all one of a kind, no one will ever have another piece like it.”

Arriving back at the office Bea thanked Bridget again for her help before heading inside.

“Did ya find what ya were looking for love?”

“Well I found something that I liked, I still don’t know if Allie is going to like it though.”

“I’m sure she will love, guess you won’t be needing my help now will ya?”

“I wouldn’t say that Liz, I’m certain I still need your help.”

“Anytime love.”

“Where’s Franky?”

“In her office, an old client called in just after she got back, nothing serious, just wanting a thorough background check for a new potential employee.”

Bea went to her office after pouring a coffee for herself and Liz. Sitting at her desk drinking her coffee her thoughts turned to Allie, looking at the time it was only just turned 3:30pm but already she was ready to go home. Getting up from her chair she went to Franky’s office.

“Red, what can I do for ya?”

“Nothin much, how’s it going with the background check?”

“Almost done, nothing surprising, should have it finished in about twenty minutes.”

“Right well I’m going to go home, when you’ve finished get ya self home, oh and I think we’ll have the day off tomorrow, sound good to you?”

“Hell yer, Gidge isn’t working tomorrow or Sunday.”

“So I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Sure Red, get ya self home.”

Walking out of Franky’s office Bea asked Liz if she wouldn’t mind coming over to hers the next day around one, Liz agreed straight away, letting Liz know that she was going home and that as soon as Franky was finished she was going to lock up. Bea couldn’t wait to get home, it still seemed strange to her actually wanting to leave work early, something she had never wanted to do before Allie came into her life. Deciding that she wanted to make Allie something special for dinner she drove home with a smile on her face. She still found it hard to believe that she could want to actually do something special for someone else, but she loved that feeling, having someone to want to actually get home for, Allie made her feel more than happy, more than content, pulling into the driveway she knew what that feeling was, Allie completed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will start the next chapter ready for posting tomorrow. And I'm still working on my next story.
> 
> Thanks to all of you for your comments, I do read them all even when I don't reply to them, it means a lot to me and you all keep me wanting to write.


	50. Chapter 50

Allie was surprised when Bea woke her up just after 9am that morning, not that she minded her waking her up she was just confused as to why she hadn’t been woken by the alarm and why Bea was still at home.

“Aren’t you worried about Franky giving you a hard time for being late into the office?”

“Since we’re not working today I don’t think that’s a problem I’m going to have.”

“So not fair I still have to work,” Allie pouted.

“Only till five, it’s not the end of the world is it?”

“No, but why didn’t you wake me earlier?”

“You get up early everyday because I have to I just thought you could sleep in for a while.”

“I don’t mind getting up when you do, it means I get to spend more time with you.”

“Are you going to get up? Or maybe you’re just going to lay there all day.”

“If you were coming back to bed I’d gladly stay here all day, but I have to go to work, Will wont be in until 3pm and I’ve got an order to sort out.”

Bea left Allie to take a shower going to the kitchen to start breakfast, she was almost done when her phone started ringing, taking it out of her pocket she saw Debbie’s name on the screen.

“Hey Deb is there something wrong?”

“No, can’t I call you early?”

“You can call me anytime you want you know that.”

“I have a question that’s all.”

“Ok, what is it?”

“What can I buy Allie for Christmas?”

“Oh god not this again, I’ve had enough trouble finding something for her and I’m still not sure I’ve picked the right thing.”

“Mum, you never pick a bad present, but I need some ideas.”

“Then I suggest you call Franky because I really don’t have any honestly, she’s so difficult to buy anything for, I’ve tried everything to get her to give me some suggestions and nothing.”

“Not like me then,” Debbie giggled.

  
“No defiantly not like you, you’ve been dropping hints since long before you went to uni.”

“Hey, I have not.”

“Oh Deb, you so have.”

“If you say so, I guess I better call Franky then, and if she’s as much use as you I’ll call Maxine.”

“Ok Deb, I love you.”

“Love you too mum, to the moon and back.”

Bea put her phone back in her pocket just as Allie walked into the kitchen.

“Was that Debbie you were just talking to?”

“Yes, she just had a question she needed to ask me?”

“Dare I ask what?”

“She just wanted to know what she could buy for you for Christmas.”

“For me, she doesn’t have to buy me anything, besides there’s nothing I want, but speaking of presents, are you going to tell me what you would like or do I just have to surprise you?”

Allie sat down when Bea placed a plate and a mug of coffee on the table for her, before getting her own and sitting across the table from her.

“Honestly there’s nothing I want, but speaking of Christmas me and Deb just usually get each other something small to take with us, my spoilt brat gets the rest of her presents when we get home.”

“Ok, got it, small presents, anything big stays here.”

“You aren’t going to buy anything big are you?”

“Don’t know yet, but what about your birthday, that’s the day after.”

“Oh please you have to remind me that I’ll be another year older don’t ya?”

“That’s not what I meant at all and you know it,”

“I know you didn’t I just feel old when I think about it.”

“I hate to eat and run but I really need to get to the bar, that order won’t wait forever.”

Allie gathered her things together before pulling Bea from the chair she was sitting in and bringing her in for a hug, kissing her softly before regrettably having to break the embrace to set off for work. Bea did the dishes then retreated to the lounge, she had a few hours to kill before Liz would arrive.

\------------------------------

Allie arrived at the bar finding Shane already there waiting for her, they went in and went straight to the office, Allie spotted the brochure that Will had promised to leave for her on the desk and smiled, this was going to be a surprise, it was her own fault Bea wouldn’t tell her anything that she would like, but they were both as bad and Allie knew that, she’d already asked Franky about Bea taking time off work and being told that the only time she really ever had off was for Christmas, actually Franky couldn’t remember a time since they had worked together that Bea had had a holiday, Allie was determined to change that, and Franky had agreed with her that it was a good idea. Will had said she could take time off to take Bea away even though he had already given her time off for Christmas. Will having explained that he couldn’t remember a time he’d ever seen Bea looking so happy, he was more than willing to help Allie out with her plan, and obviously as he said one day she would be able to do him a favour when he needed it.

Shane and Allie set about getting the bar ready for opening and before they knew it everything was done and Allie was unlocking the doors. Shane was propped behind the bar and said he would give Allie a shout if they got busy but he wasn’t expecting that to happen for over an hour, it was Saturday and the bar did attract quite a few lunch time customers, but Allie had an order to place and Shane knew he would be fine on his own for a while. Allie set about placing the order and 45 minutes later it was all done, she picked up the brochure and had a quick look through it before Shane had needed her help.

\------------------------------

Liz arrived just before one, Bea was in the kitchen preparing lunch when she heard a knock on the door, glancing at the time before she answered the door.

“Liz, come in lunch is nearly ready.”

Bea stepped to the side letting Liz enter the house before closing the door, they both walked to the kitchen.

“What did you want me to come over for love, or did ya just need a chat?”

“A chats always good Liz, but no, that wasn’t all I asked you to come over for, Bridget is picking Allies gift up for me on Wednesday and I wondered if you would keep it for me, I don’t want to risk bringing it home and Allie finding it.”

“Of course love, it’d be a pleasure.”

Bea finished cooking and served their lunch, sitting together at the kitchen table chatting.

“What are you so nervous about Bea?”

“Huh, I’m not nervous.”

“Really, that’s not what I’m getting from you.”

“I really can’t get anything past you can I?”

“No love, you haven’t managed that for years.”

  
“I’m pretty nervous about Allie meeting my dad, you know what a joker he can be! What if he scares her away?”

“Honestly, if Boomer and Franky can’t scare her away I very much doubt your dad will, he’s going to love her, especially when he sees how happy you are, you both are. And Debbie likes her, I never though I would live long enough to see you ever let anyone in, you told me you never wanted another relationship again, although I think I remember that statement being aimed at a relationship with a man,” Liz laughed.

“Yer, I remember saying that.”

“Listen love, when you met Harry you were young, you hadn’t experienced life, I doubt you even knew who you really were and you never got the chance to find out, he took all that from you, tried to completely grind you down, but he never could because you had Debbie, she was the centre of your universe for so long, then Allie came along, and as far as that scared the life out of you, and I know it did, I saw that the first time I saw you together, but I also saw a change in you, and that was only after the few days you had spent with her. You started to experience something that you never thought you would, something I think you never thought really existed, you started to fall in love with someone for the first time in your life and it scared you. But look what you have now, you still have a daughter who you adore, and someone in your life who is completely in love with you, she worships the ground you walk on, you can’t mistake that when you see the way she looks at you, and by the way I see you look at her you feel the same. It’s alright to get scared, but don’t let that stop you from experiencing something that is so beautiful for the rest of us to watch.”

Bea just sat there, she had no reply for what Liz had just said to her, but she knew she was right, she had made sure that Debbie never would find herself in the same position as she had at such a young age. She had done everything she could to encourage her to go for what she wanted, to go out into the world and experience life in the way only a teenager could. Liz was right her lack of experience had left her feeling like she didn’t know who she was, even now she would question herself, but with Allie she knew she was questioning herself less and less, and she did love Allie, more than she ever thought was possible.

\------------------------------

Will arrived at the bar at 2pm, Allie wondered why he had said he would be in at three then turn up an hour early, when he had walked in he smiled at Allie and Shane before disappearing into the office appearing a few moments later with the brochure he had left for Allie in his hand. Walking behind he bar and standing next to her,

“So what did you think?”

“It looks fantastic, but do you think Bea will like it?”

“I took my girlfriend Rose there last year and she still talks about it to anyone who will listen if that helps.”

“But she’s not Bea, what if it’s too much, what if she hates it?”

“Listen, your not sending her there on her own your going with her, and I know that wherever you are she will want to be, I’m pretty certain that she would walk on water to get to you if she had to, so as long as your together she’ll love it because your together. Now go and get yourself in the office and get it booked, I came in early so you would have the time to do it, now get.”

Allie took the brochure from Will and went back to the office, sitting in front of the computer she thought about what Will had just said, he was right of course, bringing the website up she she clicked through to the booking page, a 7 day break would do them both good, and Bea had said that they only took small gifts over to New Zealand with them, couldn’t get too much smaller than an envelope with the booking conformation in it. Returning back to the bar she chatted with Will and Shane for the rest of her shift, glad that it was Saturday and she had the day off the next day, even if it did mean going shopping and looking for Debbie’s Christmas gifts, it didn’t matter to her, as long as they had the day together it didn’t matter what they were doing.

\------------------------------

After their chat and a coffee Liz said she needed to get home, Bea thanking her for always being there for her, Liz really did know Bea, sometimes she thought she knew her too well, but she was always there for her, no matter what was going on she was always just there. Bea had an idea, grabbing her mobile she called the Italian restaurant speaking to the owner she asked him if he could do her a takeout order, he was more than happy to help her out, she ordered mini dough bites, roast mediterranean vegetables and beef and red wine ravioli, asking if she could pick it up at 4:45pm, he said that he would have it ready for her. She ran upstairs to take a quick shower and get changed, before setting the dining room table, they hardly ever ate in the dining room but she had decided that she wanted to make the evening special, going back to the kitchen to look for candles, it took her twenty minutes to find them, making sure that she was happy with how it looked she lowered the lights before leaving for the restaurant arriving just before 4:45pm she only had to wait a couple of minutes for the food to be ready, thanking the owner she paid him and rushed back to the car, arriving home five minutes before she expected Allie home. She put the oven on low and put the food in to keep it warm, hearing Allie come in she walked out of the kitchen walked straight over to her and wrapped her arms around her giving her a kiss.

“Now that’s the best thing to come home to.”

“Yer, why don’t you go and have a shower before dinner?”

“I think I will, I stink of the bar.”

Allie knew Bea was up to something she had noticed straight away that the dining room door was closed and it was always open. Bea opened a bottle of red wine and took it into the dining room, leaving the door open, when she heard Allie moving around in the bedroom she went to the kitchen and plated up their meal taking the plates through to the dining room and lighting the candles, she was just walking out when she heard Allie walking down the stairs, she went to wait for her at the bottom taking her by the hand when she reached the bottom stair she led her through to the dining room.

“Babe, you did all this for me?”

“Yes, just for you, don’t you like being surprised?”

“Only when it’s you surprising me, and I see you’ve been to your favourite Italian again.”

“Can’t get anything past you can I?”

Bea pulled out a chair for Allie before kissing her on the cheek and taking her seat across the table from her.

“So is there any reason for all this?”

“Does there need to be?”

“I guess not.”

“I just wanted to do something special for you, but I didn’t have time to cook, and before you say it I know you don’t care what we do when we’re together, and I know you’d be happy with a pizza and a night in front of the tv, but…..well I’ve never had what we have together, I never thought I’d ever want to be with anyone, and then you came into my life, I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love anyone, I hope you know that.”

“Way to go Babe, nothing like making a girl want to cry.”

“I didn’t mean……”

“Shhh, there happy tears, I love you too, more than anything, I never want to be without you.”

They finished their meal and Bea took the dishes to the kitchen leaving them in the sink, they could wait for tomorrow, she went back to the dining room, grabbed the bottle of wine and their glasses before blowing out the candles and turning off the light. She put the glasses and the bottle on the coffee table before settling down with Allie on the sofa to spend the rest of the evening in front of the tv, just the way Allie always liked them to spend their evenings together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow's chapter maybe a little shorter as it will be the 5th November after all.


	51. Chapter 51

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry only a short chapter today, busy getting ready for my bonfire party later on.

The day started out like any typical Sunday morning, the pair of them lounging around in bed for a couple of hours before finally getting up showering and having breakfast, but this morning Bea was going to the supermarket alone Allie saying it made more sense that she stayed at home and to do the laundry and cleaning the house while Bea did the shopping because they were going Christmas shopping and that was going to take up a lot of time. Bea had protested when Allie had first suggested it but gave in in the end but only because she didn’t want to spend all evening cleaning the house, it was never one of her favourite pass times since Allie had moved in.

Allie was almost done with the cleaning when Bea returned, helping her bring the bags in from the car she had to laugh,

“Seriously Bea I let you go shopping on ya own and you come back with way more than we need.”

“I know, think I forgot that Debs not home, better not make me go alone again.”

“Yer, but by the looks of it we won’t need to do any shopping next week.”

They put it all away and left the house headed for the shopping mall, Allie dragged Bea straight to the computer store.

“I don’t remember saying we were getting Debbie’s present first.”

“It doesn’t hurt to look, I thought you said she wanted a mac book.”

“Yer she does, but I don’t know anything about laptops, I leave that to Deb.”

“Good thing I’m here then isn’t it?” Allie giggled.

“Oh so you’re an expert are ya?”

“No, what colour does she want?”

“Colour? They come in different colours?”

“Oh god, Bea honestly, yer they do, I think she might like it in gold, come on there over there.”

Taking Bea by the hand Allie walked her over to the display, Bea eventually agreeing that she did actually like it in gold and agreed that Debbie probably would.

“You could call her and ask if you want to make sure.”

“Yer, I could…..but then it wouldn’t be a surprise would it?”

An assistant walked over to them asking if they needed any help and they told him that they wanted the mac book in gold then asked his advice about a printer. After they decided on the printer Allie suggested that they should buy an external hard drive and Bea agreed, it wasn’t that long ago that her computer at work had died and she hadn’t got any of her files backed up, losing everything taught her a lesson, she backed everything up now. They got everything and took the bags back to the car.

“Where to next?”Allie asked.

“I think I’m hungry, and I want McDonald’s.”

Allie agreed McDonald’s would be good. After they had eaten they went back to looking for gifts for their friends, surprisingly between them it had been quite easy to pick out the gifts for Maxine, Boomer, Franky, Bridget and Liz.

“Are we done now?”

“Bea, babe it was your idea to do it all in one day.”

“I know, you also know I hate shopping.”

“Have we forgotten anyone?”

Bea thought for a moment,

“Fuck, yer, Doreen, how did I forget about her? And wrapping paper might be a good idea.”

“Yer, can’t go without wrapping paper really.”

They walked around for a while looking for a gift for Doreen, Allie hadn’t met Doreen as many times as the others so she really wasn’t much help. Bea finally found something that she was happy with so they went in search of wrapping paper. Half an hour later they were on there way home.

“Allie, you didn’t get anything for Kaz.”

“I know, I’ll get something next week, I’ve had enough for today.”

“You won’t forget will you, we leave in two weeks.”

“I won’t forget, I was wondering, if you aren’t at home do you bother with a tree?”

“Yer we do, Harry would never have one in the house, once he was gone we started getting one.”

“So you have a real one?”

“Yer, we usually go to Melbourne Christmas Tree Farm, I thought we could go together next week, if you want to, I’ll go on my own if you don’t want to.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to go with you?”

“It’s not the most exciting thing to do, decorating a tree is much more fun.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t care what we do as long as we’re together? Do you really not believe that?”

  
“I do believe you, but you know I still find it hard sometimes, I never believed that someone like you existed, that someone like you could ever want to be with me.”

“I know that babe, but it’s the same for me, I mean look at the state of my life before you came along, and before Kaz it was even worse.”

“Hey, you don’t have to think about that, it’s in the past, it’s over, that’s not who you are any more.”

“Oh shit, I should call Alex, I completely forgot about him.”

“Yer you should, its just a thought but why don’t you invite them over for dinner before we leave, you might feel a bit more relaxed if you meet your sister in law and nephew at home.”

“When does Debbie get home?”

“She flies back on the 18th why?”

“I’d like it if Debbie was there, if she wouldn’t mind.”

“I tell you what, we’ll call her later and ask her what she thinks.”

“Do you think she’ll want to meet them?”

“If I know Deb she will, he is kinda like her uncle now.”

Allie just smiled, she’d never felt like a real part of her own family but Debbie and Bea both made her feel like she was part of theirs, like she mattered, she was still nervous about meeting Beas dad and brother but Bea had been there with her when she met Alex, and they would both be there with her when she met the rest of their family, no matter how nervous she was having Bea with her always made her feel like everything was ok.

When they got home Bea took the bags up to their bedroom while Allie made a start on dinner, Bea joining her in the kitchen a few minutes later. After dinner and the dishes were done Bea got her laptop so they could video call Debbie. The three of them chatted for a while, Bea sensed the hesitation in Allie about asking Debbie what they had talked about earlier on the way home. After a couple more minutes Bea asked Debbie how she would feel about meeting Allies brother, Debbie was excited, even more so because as she pointed out to Allie he was a lawyer and she could pick his brains. They ended the call having decided that they would invite them over the day after Debbie arrived home.

Allie called Alex next, chatting for fifteen minutes before she asked him about going over to their house for dinner, he had agreed straight away saying it was about time they met Vicky and Kyle, and he was excited to meet Debbie. Finishing up the call Allie was relieved that he had agreed. Spending the rest of the evening cuddled up together on the sofa they chatted about everything and nothing Bea saying she would find some free time one day during the week to go shopping again with Allie for the last few gifts she needed to get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I should be able to get a longer chapter written tomorrow.


	52. Chapter 52

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got this chapter finished a little earlier than I thought I would.

Bea and Franky were just plain bored, ever since they had gotten to work on Monday morning they hadn’t had much to do, Liz had only taken one phone call and that had only been an enquiry about how much they charged for a full background check. Most of that day had been spent sitting chatting together drinking coffee. Tuesday had been different and Bea hadn’t been able to sit still resulting in Franky losing her temper and almost biting her head off. After lunch that day they had decided that Bea would take Wednesday morning off to go shopping with Allie and Franky would have Thursday morning off because wanted to pick a couple of surprises up for Bridget. Friday and Saturday they were going to keep the office closed, Bea hated knowing that she was going to be at home without Allie it never bothered her before Allie, Debbie would stay over at friends and leave her alone and it had never once bothered her, but she knew that she could probably find more to do around the house than she could around the office.

Wednesday morning wasn’t going to plan, Bea forgot to set the alarm, blaming Allie for being too distracting the previous night, that resulted in Allie getting out of bed and going to the bathroom for a shower slamming the door behind her, Bea had stormed off downstairs to make coffee when she started to feel guilty and not wanting to spend another minute with Allie angry at her had gone back upstairs to apologise but finding the bathroom door locked. She’d sat back on the bed waiting for her to finish up losing herself in her thoughts, it didn’t matter that they hadn’t got up so early, Bea had the morning off and so did Allie as she didn’t start work until three. And now Bea was just getting angry at herself, Allie had been a distraction, the best kind of distraction, but it wasn’t Allie who had started things in the first place. Bea didn’t hear the bathroom door being unlocked and opening, she didn’t even notice when Allie walked back into the room standing at the bottom of the bed and dropping the towel that she’d had wrapped around her to the floor. She’d stood there for a minute watching Bea, finally shaking her head she just couldn’t stay mad at Bea even if she wanted to.

“Bea……..Bea!”

Receiving no answer she had walked round the bed and almost threw herself backwards onto the bed and across Beas legs, making her jump straight out of her thoughts. Locking eyes with Allie the realisation that she was if fact naked had still not registered in her brain before she started to apologise.

“Allie, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have blamed you….you are very distracting, but never in a bad way. You know how grumpy I am when I forget to do something…….but……..” trailing off as her eyes wondered down Allies body.

“I shouldn’t have been angry with you, it was silly, but babe it was only the alarm.”

“Hmmm…….”

“Bea are you listening?”

“…………….”

“Bea Smith, will you stop Previn on me and listen?” Allie giggled.

 

“Can’t, too distracting.” Was the only answer she got, resulting in them not leaving the bedroom for another hour.

After Bea finally managed to tear herself away from Allie she had a quick shower and got dressed before running downstairs finding Allie waiting for her on the sofa.

“We still have plenty of time you know, we didn’t wake up that late we only slept in for an hour.”

“Yer, I know, still want to go finish your shopping?”

“I guess…….but what the hell am I going to buy Alex, shit what about his wife……and what do you buy for a one year old?”

“Babe calm down, it’s not the end of the world, and trust me I can’t think of anyone easier to please than a one year old.”

“Yer but what if I fuck up and buy something that Alex and Vicky don’t like?”

“Allie, unless they spend more time playing with your nephews toys than he does I’m certain anything you get him will be fine, and trust me, toys for a one year old may keep a kid happy but they really aren’t all that entertaining when you’re an adult.”

“Yer, but you know more about that stuff than I do, you had a one year old.”

“Seventeen years ago I did, now come on I’ll help you.”

“You better.”

\------------------------------

Bridget called into the office.

“Good morning Liz, your looking well.”

“Morning Bridget, did you just call in for this or do you want to see Franky.” Liz asked as she handed her the envelope stuffed with cash that Bea had left with her the previous day.

“I think Franky will keep until I get back.”

“Must really be something special judging by that envelope.”

“I think it is, I saw it before it was finished and it was quite stunning then.”

“Better let you go love.”

“I should be back in just over an hour Liz, I’ll see you later.”

Bridget left the office to go to Vera’s workshop, Vera spotted her pulling up and went straight to the door to greet her.

  
“So good to see you Bridget, I really hope Beas going to love it now it’s finished.”

“I’m sure she will, although I know she’s still a little nervous about giving it to Allie.”

“Really, she doesn’t strike me as the nervous type.”

“I think it’s just because they haven’t been together that long, and Allie saying she didn’t need anything for Christmas doesn’t help.”

“I’m sure she’ll love it when she gives it to her.”

Bridget took the box from Vera and handed over the envelope, telling Vera that she really had to go as she had to get back to Beas office before she had to go to work. As soon as she got back she handed the box over to Liz.

“I know you’ll take good care of that until Bea arrives.”

“I’ll guard it with my life love.”

“Franky in her office?”

“Yer, but I’ll warn ya now she sulking.”

“What ever for?”

“She’s bored, Beas not in so she’s got to be bored alone, ya know what she’s like.”

“I do, leave her to me Liz.” She smiled at Liz before heading into Franky’s office.”

\------------------------------

After a couple of hours looking around for the rest of the gifts Allie needed to buy they were finally on their way home.

“I could just drop you straight off at your office babe.”

“Yer you could but then I’d get less time with you, and I’d also have to as Franky for a lift home.”

She wouldn’t have minded Allie dropping her off, if Franky wouldn’t give her a lift Liz would have, but she didn’t want to risk Allie seeing her present until Christmas Day.

“Didn’t think of that, how much longer do I have with you until you have to be back at the office?”

Bea looked at the time,

“About half an hour.”

“Is that all?”

“Hey I did say I’d be in by one, and you have had me around all morning, you only have a couple of hours at home on your own, when I get back tonight I’ll be all on my own for about seven hours, I think you got the best deal.”

“Ok you win, seven hours without all this might be hard on ya.” Allie giggled.

“Oh, you think I can’t cope without ya is that it?”

“I never said that.”

“No, I will miss you though, I always do.”

Arriving home Allie took the bags upstairs while Bea made them both a sandwich for lunch. Allie wanted to know when they were going to pick a tree and Bea said that they could go either Friday or Saturday, Friday being the better choice though because she knew how packed the place got at weekends. Allie agreed to Friday, especially since she knew Bea wasn’t working all day and would probably end up at the bar after dinner just because she was bored.

\------------------------------

Bea arrived at the office seeing Bridget’s car still parked outside, her heart rate increased slightly as she walked through the door, nervous to see how the pendant looked now it was finished. Liz Franky and Bridget were chatting over a coffee.

“Red, bout time.”

“I’m not late Franky.”

“Yer I know, we’re all just dying to see what ya got for blondie.”

“I thought ya would have looked by now.”

“Na, I wanted to but these two wouldn’t let me, said I had to wait for you,” Franky frowned.

Liz opened the top draw of her desk pulling out the box and handing it over to Bea, she stood just looking at the box for a few seconds feeling her nerves starting to kick in again, she looked at Liz giving her a small smile and opened the box, gasping when she saw what was inside. It was perfect, she took it out of the box and checked the inscription before showing it to the others.

“Bea that’s amazing love, Allies going to love it.”

Bridget had a huge smile on her face when she saw it, Vera really had delivered with this one, Bridget had a couple of pieces of jewellery that Vera had made but nothing as stunning as what Bea was holding. Franky insisted on having a better look, taking it from Bea when she offered it to her, she looked at it closely before reading the inscription.

“What a fucking sap, ya make me want to throw up.”

“Fuck off Franky.”

“Franky, leave Bea alone, your only jealous because you didn’t think of it first.” Bridget grinned before slapping Franky on the shoulder.

Franky handed the pendant back to Bea mumbling something about not being a fucking sap. Bea placed it back in the box and handed it back to Liz.

“You won’t forget to take it home with ya Liz will ya?”

“No love, I’ll put it in my bag now then I can’t forget.”

Bridget looked at her watch saying that she had to be going before turning to Bea and whispering, “she’s going to love it, stop worrying.”

Turning back to Franky she gave her a kiss on the cheek and left to go to work. They had nothing much to do for most of the afternoon so Franky decided that she was going to find something to do to pass on a couple of hours, walking out the door without a word Bea watched her cross the car park and go into one of the shops across the road, shrugging her shoulders she looked at Liz,

“Coffee?”

“May as well, nothing better to do.”

Twenty minutes later Franky walked back into the office bags in hand.

“What are you up to now?”

“Hey I’m bored, and this place looks like shit,”

Bea looked at Franky with a raised eyebrow not having a clue what she was planning on doing. Franky emptied her bags out onto Liz’s desk. Liz shooting her a frown for making a mess of her overly tidy desk.

“Oh come on, it’s almost Christmas, go with me on this one, this place needs decorations.”

Bea groaned dipping her head and shaking it while Liz was trying to tidy her desk of Franky’s stuff.

“Oh come on, it’ll give us something to do.”

“If you want to put Christmas decorations up do it yourself, and if you do remember who’s got to take them down after.”

“Fine I’ll do it myself, after I saw what ya bought for blondie earlier I thought I was wrong about ya Red, but now I know ya really are Scrooge.”

Bea and Liz spent the next hour laughing at Franky putting decorations up, stepping back to look at them, half the time shaking her head and taking it down again trying it somewhere else, eventually she was finished, crossing her arms across her chest she looked around the room, a huge grin on her face.

“Now come on admit it am I good at decorating or am I just fuckin fantastic.”

  
“Yer Franky, really great, are ya looking for a new job in interior design,” Bea laughed.

Bea was sitting on the edge of Liz’s desk still laughing to herself when Franky walked up to her one hand behind her back,

“Oh come on Red, I’ve got somethin for ya.”

Bea eyed her suspiciously, knowing that she was definitely up to something, and knowing Franky it wouldn’t be innocent. She stayed sat there watching Franky but not noticing her raise her arm above their heads. Franky looked up a little,

“Now Red would ya look at that mistletoe, now ya have to give me a kiss.”

“Errrr, NO…never happening.”

Franky tried to lunge forward not expecting Bea to be much faster than her, before Franky could stop herself she fell face first onto liz’s desk. Trying to regain her composure she peeled herself off Liz’s desk still smirking.

“Oh come on Red, it’s not like ya haven’t kissed me before.”

“Franky you kissed me, and I was drunk, very drunk!”

“Ha, ya weren’t drunk the second time.”

“There was a second time?” Liz looked up eyebrow raised a look of shock on her face.

“No Franky, I wasn’t, but you were, so drunk I had to carry you to bed because for some reason you thought I was Bridget.”

“I don’t remember mistaking you for Bridget.”

“You wouldn’t, Franky you were so drunk I bet if Boomer had been there you would have mistook her for Bridget.”

Franky groaned stomping off to her office, returning five minutes later flopping down into a chair.

“It wasn’t funny ya know, Gidge gave me shit for a week after that.”

“Yer I know, I laughed about it for a week. God Franky lighten up, it was last year, just get out of here already.”

“Bit early isn’t it?”

“Oh yer, thirty minutes is too early, you can stay if you like, I’m going home, how about you Liz?”

“Yer might as well.”

Five minutes later they were all on their way home, Bea not looking forward to being in an empty house again. The next week and a half couldn't pass quick enough for her.


	53. Chapter 53

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allie finds something she wasn't expecting.

Allie had never seen so many Christmas trees in one place at the same time.

“Babe how are we meant to pick a tree out of all these?”

“It’s easy, we pick the size we want then pick the tree we want from there.”

“I’ve never bought a tree before, never thought I’d ever be with anyone who wanted to even spend Christmas with me because they wanted to.”

Bea wrapped an arm around Allies shoulders and pulled her a little closer whispering in her ear,

“You better get used to having someone to spend Christmas with then because I’m not going anywhere.”

An hour later they were on their way home, Allie glad that she’d let Bea talk her out of taking her car, she loved her car way too much to ever want to mess it up with a tree in it.

Taking the tree into the house Bea leaned it against the back of the sofa.

“Babe, don’t we need decorations?”

“If you want to wander yourself into the garage I’m sure you’ll find them, but it is a mess in there.”

“Do you keep everything you don’t use in there?”

“Hmmm, pretty much, I think Deb put the Christmas decorations at the back, I’ll come and help you look in a minute, I need a coffee.”

Allie wondered over to the door that lead to the garage, flipping the switch to turn the light on she stopped in her tracks, looking around all she saw were boxes, shrugging her shoulders she walked further into the garage finally spotting some boxes that had Christmas written on them, picking a couple of boxes up she walked back out of the garage, putting the boxes down in the lounge she went to the kitchen.

“Babe it’s a mess in there.”

“Yer I know, I keep meaning to throw all the rubbish out but I never get round to it, I can’t remember half of what is in there.”

“And here I was thinking you were a tidy person, well until I looked in the garage.”

“Stop complaining, it just organised chaos,” Bea laughed, “come on I’ll help ya.”

They went back to the garage together, Allie going back to the boxes at the back, Bea just looked around before she heard a squeal, turning her head to look at Allie.

“Is that what I think it is?”

  
“Depends what you’re looking at.”

Bea walked over to Allie looking where she was looking.

“Is that a motorbike?”

“Oh yer, it’s my Harley, haven’t ridden it for about five years, didn’t have the time so kinda just parked it up and left it there.”

“Were you ever going to tell me that you rode?”

“I never thought about it honestly, it’s been a long time, guess it never entered my head.”

“We need to tidy this garage up, it’s not much use stuck behind all this.”

“And here I was thinking you wanted to get the decorations out.”

“I do, but….”

“Ok, you like the bike, I’ll see what I can do while your at work.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Guess it is, now come on or I’ll have to decorate the tree myself and then I’ll actually have to break a promise to you.”

They got the last few boxes and took them to the lounge. Bea had to dig into all the boxes before she finally found the tree stand, putting the tree in the stand and making sure it was safe before removing the netting it was wrapped in.

“I swear it’s grown,” Allie giggled.

“Don’t be silly, they always look bigger when their in the house, don’t you like it now?”

“Course I do, where are you putting it?”

“Usually goes in the corner over there, but you can put it somewhere else if you want.”

“No, no, I think you should put it where you and Deb have it.”

“Allie…..it’s not my tree, it’s ours, we picked it together…..I know things like this are new to you, but there just as new to me.”

Allie took the few steps forward that were between them and wrapped her arms around Beas waist.

“I know, I’m sorry, it’s our tree, I still think you…..we….should put it where it usually goes.”

After spending a couple of hours decorating the tree and the rest of lounge Allie threw herself down onto the sofa looking around before she noticed the time, jumping up from the sofa,

  
“Shit, shit, shit.” She shouted running upstairs.

Bea was in the kitchen, hearing Allie she quickly went to the lounge seeing her disappearing up the stairs, she didn’t know what was wrong so she followed her. Entering the bedroom just in time to watch Allie fall over as she was trying to pull her jeans off.

“What are you doing?”Bea asked trying hard not to laugh.

“It’s not funny Bea, have you seen the time I’m going to be late for work…..fuck!”

Bea glanced at the alarm clock.

“Babe, you have thirty minutes, but by the looks of it if you don’t slow down I’ll be taking you to the hospital instead.”

“Bea walked over to her, still sitting on the floor and held her hands out to her to help her up, pulling her into a hug as she did.

“Slow down, the more you rush around the longer it will take to get ready.”

Bea backed her up towards the bed and sat her down before going to the wardrobe and taking out a black skirt and white blouse that Allie wore for work, returning back over to the bed and putting them down, dropping to her knees she pulled Allies jeans off that were still round her ankles.

“Now get changed, and slow down.”

Five minutes later Allie was walking back downstairs, finding Bea sat on the sofa.

“See told you if you slowed down it wouldn’t take so long.”

“Such a smart arse aren’t ya?”

“Not really, but you still have twenty minutes to get to work.”

“Hmmm, guess I better go then.”

Bea got up from the sofa, pulling Allie in for a hug and gave her soft kiss,

“I’ll see you later.”

“I doubt you will, you’ll be asleep, but at least I’ll see you.”

Before she could reply Allie was out of the door, she was just about to sit back down when she changed her mind, heading outside she opened the garage door looking at the mass of boxes properly. “Better make a start on this,” she thought to herself. The first few boxes were full of junk, placing them to one side to take to the tip later, an hour later she had started to make a dent in the boxes near the door and most of them had gone on the tip pile. She was so engrossed looking in a box full of photo albums that she didn’t hear a car pull up and the a door open and close.

“Red, whatcha doin?”

“RED!”

“Fuck Franky, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Sooo…..whatcha doin?”

“Trying to clean the garage out, I would have thought that would be obvious.”

“Need a hand?”

“Franky Doyle offering to help, are you feeling unwell?”

“Na, I’m fine, just bored, thought you could use some company.”

“Bridget at work?”

“Yer, how’d ya guess?”

“Offering to help me kinda gave it away.”

Franky loaded the boxes into her car that Bea said were going to the tip before returning to the garage to help sort through the boxes. After a couple of hours both of their cars were full and they went to the tip, returning back to Beas after they had dumped everything.

“You gonna tell me why the sudden interest in cleaning out the garage?”

“Err, yer, well Allie kinda spotted the bike.”

“Fuck, you still actually have that thing?”

“Yer, wasn’t going to get rid of it was I?”

“So, I guess I better get going, Gidge should be home soon.”

“Yer you better had, thanks for the help Franky.”

“Anytime Red, see ya later.”

Bea went back to looking through the boxes finding a few more that needed to go to the tip she stacked them near the door before re stacking the ones she was keeping, finally getting to her Harley, she stood back and looked at it with a huge smile on her face. Wondering out of the garage she closed the door behind her and went back into the house to get something to eat. After making a sandwich she sat on the sofa switching on the tv and looking through the channels, finishing her sandwich she took the plate back to the kitchen depositing it in the sink and grabbing a beer from the fridge drinking half of it in one go. Going back to sit on the sofa she finished her beer when a thought entered her head, grabbing her phone she sent Allie a quick text.

**Got a surprise for you when you get home xx**

Throwing her phone down on the sofa she went upstairs to get changed, changing her t shirt for an old Harley Davidson one and changing out of her jeans into her overalls tying them at the waist and grabbing an old pair of work boots that she used to wear when she worked on the bike, she tied her hair up in a loose ponytail. Going back outside she opened up the garage again and walked over to the bike, kicking up the stand she wheeled it out of the garage and onto the drive kicking the stand back down, “keys are helpful,” she thought to herself, going back into the house and retrieving them from the draw she kept them in.

Sitting on the bike for the first time in five years she felt happy, cranking the engine up she could tell straight away that it needed some work, switching off the engine and getting off she stuffed the keys in her pocket, kicking up the stand she wheeled it back into the garage. Looking through the huge tool box she had she found she still had all the tools she needed. Closing the garage door before returning to the house. Getting a couple of bottles of water from the fridge she picked her mobile up seeing a text from Allie.

**A surprise? What kind of surprise? Xx**

Smiling to herself before replying.

**If I tell you it won’t be a surprise anymore, but I think you might like it xx**

Going back to the garage through the connecting door in the house she turned on the light, putting the bottles of water and her phone down on the work bench that she could now see that the boxes had been cleared she got her tools together and got down on the floor ready to work on the bike.

Allie got home just after midnight surprised to see lights still on in the house, walking in she expected to find Bea asleep on the sofa, surprised to see no sign of her and the tv still on. Walking through the house she saw the garage door open and could see the light on, walking over to the open door,

“So what’s the sur……..”

Allies jaw almost hit the ground seeing the sight she was greeted with, Bea laying down next to the bike, hands and arms covered in oil and pieces of the bike scattered around her. Licking her lips she walked into the garage.

“Babe, I’m hoping your going to tell me you being dressed like that is my surprise.”

Bea lifted her head from the floor looking at her.

“Err, no, take a look around you.”

“Yer, yer, I can see you’ve been busy.”

“Aren’t you in early?”

“Hardly it’s turned midnight, thought you would have been in bed.”

“Shit, I didn’t think it was that late.”

Putting down the wrench she had in her hand she got up from the floor, grabbing a rag from the work bench she wiped her hands.

“I think I need a shower.”

“Hmmm, want some company?”

“Allie……don’t you think I need to wash this off first?”

“I guess, I’ll give ya ten minutes, don’t rush,” Allie winked at her before turning and walking out of to garage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no, it's Wednesday again tomorrow so I'll be busy, again! Hopefully I can get another chapter finished tomorrow.


	54. Chapter 54

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not really happy with this chapter, it's been a busy day and I'm pretty tired, but here it is anyway.

Allie woke up really early, remembering that today Debbie would be on her way home in a few hours. Cuddling up to Bea a little more she tried to get back to sleep but it was no use, she lay there for a little longer, it wasn’t as if she was nervous about Debbie coming home, she had a lot of things to be feeling nervous about but Debbie wasn’t one of those things she just couldn’t sleep. As much as she loved laying next to Bea she was getting restless so decided to get up and do something. She went to the bathroom and had a quick shower before getting dressed and wondering downstairs to make some coffee. While she waited she went to the lounge and turned the tree lights on sitting on the sofa she glanced around the room her eyes finally settling back on the tree, she couldn’t remember ever feeling this content, this was home, something she’d always dreamed of but never expected to find, something she thought she wasn’t worthy of, after all the shit life had thrown at her, after all the long cold empty nights she had spent on the streets she felt like she really had found a place where she belonged. The nagging doubt was still in the back of her mind, that was something she never thought would leave, she knew how quickly things could go wrong and turn back to shit, and even after everything she had been through the biggest fear that remained with her was that one day Bea would realise she could find someone better than her and end what they had. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn’t heard Bea walking down the stairs, crossing the room and was now stood right in front of her looking at her a little sleepily and a little puzzled.

“Allie, what are you doing up so early?”

“Hmmm……..Bea, sorry I couldn’t sleep, did I wake you?”

“Only if you count finding you not in bed beside me as waking me up.”

“I put the coffee on do you want some, are ya hungry?”

“Coffee sounds good, but stay there I’ll get it.”

Bea went to the kitchen pouring them both a coffee and taking them back to the lounge, placing the mugs on the coffee table before sitting down beside Allie and resting her head on her shoulder.

“Why couldn’t you sleep?”

“I don’t really know, I woke up, I tried to go back to sleep but it wasn’t working so I just gave in and had a shower.”

“Your not worried about Debbie coming home are you?”

“Deb, no.”

“Good because you shouldn’t be, she thinks of you as part of our family, and I know Deb, she wouldn't say that if she didn’t mean it.”

“What time does her flight land?”

“Twelve thirty, are you coming with me to pick her up?”

“Course I am silly, but can we go in my car?”

“We can do whatever you want sweetie, but I think you just want to show your car off.”

“I keep telling ya, it’s not the car I like showing off it’s the gorgeous woman sat next to me that I like showing off.”

“Such a charmer aren’t ya?”

“Hah, ya know it.”

\------------------------------

 

After Allie insisted on spending a couple of hours cleaning the house Bea finally managed to get her to sit down and relax before they had to go to the airport. Bea had received a text from Debbie letting her know that she was heading for the airport and that she couldn’t wait to get home. Bea knew that Allie was worrying about something and she was guessing that it was probably a combination of her brother and his family coming for dinner the next night and their trip to New Zealand for Christmas, she knew Allie was worried about that, if the boot were on the other foot she would be a wreck, she just hoped that having both herself and Debbie with her would help to keep her a little calmer when they arrived. She’d spoken to her dad a couple of days ago and he had told her that he would be waiting to pick them up from the airport, she told him that they would get a taxi but he had been so insistent that she gave in. They were staying with her dad for the week that they were there, Bea had planned on them staying in a hotel so that Allie would feel a little less uncomfortable but of course again her dad would hear none of it saying that if Allie was who she chose to share her life with then she must be a special person and that meant like it or not she was part of the family. Allie hadn’t been so nervous when she thought that they were staying in a hotel, as soon as Bea had told her about the conversation with her dad Allie was a bag of nerves, she was sure she could cope being round Beas family during the day but the thought of not getting any time alone with Bea for a full week scared her to death. Even Bea herself wasn’t sure how her dad would really be when they got there and she had thought about calling him again but decided not to, she would play it by ear when they got there.

They set off for the airport giving themselves plenty of time to get there, arriving twenty minutes before Debbie’s flight was due to land. After parking the car they made their way to arrivals to wait. Debbie spotted them before they spotted her, she walked as quick as she could towards them, Allie saw her first, nudging Bea who almost dragged her by the hand to get to Debbie. Dropping her bags her hugged her mum letting her go after a few seconds, before Allie even knew what was happening Debbie grabbed hold of her pulling her in for a hug, she definitely had not been expecting that.

“It’s so good to see you, both of you, now take me home and feed me I’m starving.”

Bea just rolled her eyes before picking her bags up and walking towards the exit. Debbie linked her arm in Allies and they walked behind Bea.

“So, tell me more about your brother, he is still coming for dinner tomorrow right?”

“I don’t really know what I can tell you, I hadn’t seen him for nine years, but yes they are still coming for dinner tomorrow.”

“So why do you seem so nervous?”

  
“Because we’ll all be meeting his wife and son together tomorrow night.”

“Hey, your not on your own ya know, and ya just said it yourself, we’ll be together.”

Reaching the car Debbie stopped dead in her tracks.

“Ok, who’ve you borrowed the wheels from mum?”

“It’s not borrowed its Allies.”

“You bought this? She has better taste in things with four wheels than you do mum.”

“I might have better taste when it comes to four wheels but ya mum has good taste in things on two wheels.”

“She’s got the bike out? How it was right at the back of the garage?”

“I kinda saw it when I was looking for Christmas decorations, after I went to work she cleaned the garage out, I almost had a heart attack when I got home from work.”

“Can you two hurry up, I thought at least one of you were hungry.”

Debbie and Allie just laughed, Allie threw the keys to Bea,

“You can drive.”

\------------------------------

  
The three of them spent the rest of the day together, after grabbing a quick bite to eat at Debbie’s favourite diner they went home, Debbie taking her bags to her room before they all went to the shops to get some snacks ready for spending the night watching movies and relaxing. They had already agreed that they were going to order pizza for dinner.

Debbie had disappeared into the garage with Bea while Allie was trying to decide what they should make for dinner the next night, they had tried helping her decide on something but everything either of them suggested she either didn’t think was good enough or was going too over the top, Bea had even offered to call the Italian restaurant that that both loved so much but Allie said she would rather cook, so they had left her to it.

“I can’t believe you finally cleaned this place out.”

“I should have done it ages ago, but you know how busy I get.”

“I know but come on mum, Allie spots your Harley in the corner and you drop everything to get it out.”

“I didn’t drop anything I wasn’t working, and Franky did give me a hand cleaning some of it out and taking it to the tip.”

  
“Yer but you wouldn’t have done it if Allie hadn’t have seen the bike would ya?”

“Maybe not.”

“So have you taken her out for a ride yet?”

“Not yet, I’ve only just finished working on it, and besides I need to get her a helmet.”

“Go all out mum, get her the leathers, so I’m guessing she hasn’t seen you in yours?”

“I haven’t ridden the bike yet, I just told you I’ve only just finished working on it.”

Allie appeared in the garage doorway,

“What are you two up to?”

“Trying to get mum to take you out on the bike,” Debbie giggled.

“Oh, I don’t know if I want to go out in it, think I’d be scared of falling off.”

“Na there’s nothing to it, you just have to hold on tight to mum.”

“Ok…..so I’m sorry for being off with you both about tomorrow night, maybe we should just go with the Italian.”

Bea walked over to her wrapping her arms around her shoulders,

“We’ll do whatever you want to do, we can sort it all out in the morning ok? Now why don’t we call for pizza and choose a movie to watch.”

They all agreed that that it sounded like a good idea, Allie going for a shower and getting changed into her pyjamas getting back downstairs just in time for pizza to arrive. Debbie chose the movie just like she always did, after they had eaten and the movie was almost over Bea decided that she was going for a shower, leaving Debbie and Allie to organise snacks, when they had done that Debbie said she was going to have a quick shower telling Allie not to let her mum choose a movie if she got back first because her choice of movie was always awful. Debbie made it back before her mum, something that didn’t come as a surprise to either of them. When Bea finally put in an appearance Allie and Debbie almost fell off the sofa laughing.

“Mind telling me what’s so funny?”

“Nothing much mum, it’s just that I’ve had a shower and you went up ages ago, you take way too long you know that?”

“Fine, I’m getting a beer.”

“Babe will you get me one?”

“And me mum?”

  
Bea walked into the kitchen shaking her head, it was just as if Allie had always been there and Debbie hadn’t ever been away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if I'll get a chapter written tomorrow, my appointment that got cancelled last month is tomorrow morning, but I will try.


	55. Chapter 55

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allie gets a surprising offer, can Allie get through dinner?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So after the morning I had I'm surprised that I managed to get this written, not certain I'm keen on this chapter either but here it is anyway.

The next morning Bea and Allie both slept in a little later than usual, unusual for them as it was a Tuesday, Allie only had a couple more shifts to work at the bar then she had ten days off, she should have been working until 7pm but Will was letting her go early because she agreed to do the stocktake the morning after meaning she would be going in two hours early the next day while the bar was closed, she didn’t mind doing that though, no one but her would be in the bar meaning she could make sure to do a thorough stocktake and with Christmas fast approaching it needed doing.

When Debbie woke up she had gone straight to her mum and Allies bedroom door tapping on it and getting no answer she opened the door slightly seeing them both asleep she smiled to herself, closing the door she had gone downstairs to make a start on breakfast.

Allie opened her eyes, finding herself face to face with Bea, lifting her head slightly from the pillow it wasn’t quite eight thirty, Tuesdays and Wednesdays were always slow days at the bar so Will had changed the opening time from twelve to twelve thirty so Allie knew that she still had plenty of time to get there two hours early. Deciding that she really should wake Bea she kissed her on her forehead getting no response at all, brushing her hair from her face she kissed her on the cheek and on the nose making her scrunch her face up, kissing her on her chin then her lips she fluttered her eyes open and smiled.

“Good morning,” Bea rasped in low husky morning voice.

“Morning babe, thought I better wake you.”

“Hmmm, yer, can’t stay here all day.”

“Well I can’t, you on the other hand really don’t have to worry about the time.”

“Yer but I like waking up with you.”

Allie threw the covers off them both.

“Come on, I’ll go make breakfast.”

Allie got out of bed going to use the bathroom before heading downstairs not expecting Debbie to be up until she smelled the coffee, wandering into the kitchen she found Debbie making pancakes.

“Didn’t expect you to be up Deb.”

“Snap, I was going to bring you both breakfast, is mum getting up?”

“I’m not sure, she didn’t look like she was going to move when I left her.”

Neither of them noticed that Bea was standing in the kitchen doorway until she spoke making them both jump.

“Why is it that you two are always talking about me when you think I’m not there?”

“Oh come on mum, its only cos we love ya.”

“Is that right?”

“You know it, now sit down breakfasts almost ready.”

The three of them ate and chatted until Allie excused herself to go for a shower and get ready for work leaving Bea and Debbie to do the dishes before retreating to the sofa with another mug of coffee. Debbie was still trying to grill Bea about what she could get for Allie for Christmas when they heard her walking downstairs.

“Ok, so I guess that was payback?”

“What was?”

“You two talking about me, except I didn’t hear what you were talking about.”

“Ah, well then you don’t know we were talking about you.”

“True, I’d better get going, I want to get the stock taking done long before we open up.”

Bea followed her to the door waiting until she had put her shoes on before pulling her in for a hug.

“Don’t work too hard will ya?”

“I’ll try not to.”

“And stop worrying about tonight, they aren’t arriving until 7pm, me and Deb have got it all in hand.”

Allie managed a small smile before Bea pulled her in closer planting a gentle kiss on her lips, pulling away Allie disappeared out of the door turning her head and winking at Bea as she did. Bea just shook her head as the door closed and made her way back to the sofa. Debbie had suggested that they decide what to order for dinner so they wouldn’t end up rushing later, Bea almost knew the Italian restaurants menu by heart so it wasn’t too much of a problem deciding on what would be best to order, until Debbie announced that she thought that they should order starters, Bea wasn’t really convinced until Debbie said that she thought Allie might appreciate the extra effort making Bea agree instantaneously. Bea had also remembered that they did a kids menu, not sure if they had anything suitable for one year old on it but decided to ask when she called. After deciding on the dessert they were going to order they both went for a shower before heading for the shops for their last minute Christmas shopping.

\------------------------------

Allie arrived at the bar just before ten fifteen heading to the side door she let herself in and went straight to the office to drop her bag off before picking up the paperwork she needed and went to the cellar to check on the barrels first then went to the large store room where everything else was kept, the store room took up most of her time but she was finished with the stock take just after twelve. Going back to the office she decided to make a start on the order when she heard Shane entering the bar whistling, getting up from her seat she went to the office door,

“You sound happy today.”

“Yer, I guess I am, hey it’s nearly Christmas what’s not to be happy about?”

“I don’t know, maybe knowing you have to meet ya girlfriends dad and brother for the first time could put a bit of a dampener on anyone’s Christmas.”

“Hey Allie you know they’re just going to love ya, why wouldn’t they, I mean come on, look at ya your gorgeous, and no I’m not trying to hit on ya.”

“Ok whatever you say, now get through there and start opening up.”

“Yes boss, anything you say boss,” he laughed as he walked in the direction of the bar.

Allie went back to the computer to carry on with the order, getting it finished in record time even for her, and sending it through to the brewery. At 2pm Will walked into the bar a huge smile on his face,

“Still quiet in here I see.”

“We had a bit of a rush an hour ago but it’s calmed down again, what’s with that smile? You won the lottery or something?”

“Or something, Allie can you come through to the office for a minute?”

“Yer sure.”

She looked at Shane and shrugged before following Will to the office. When she got to the office Will was sitting in front of the computer, tapping on the door he turned his head slightly,

“Whatcha knocking for, get in here and sit down.”

“Is there a problem?”

“With you around I don’t get problems, come on you’ve done the stocktake and placed the order that I said I would do, that is defiantly not a problem.”

“Ok, so……”

“Well it’s like this, I’m thinking of having the bar renovated after the new year, having an extension built on the empty plot next door, and I was thinking about turning the extension into a restaurant you know might get more people in, well anyway when that’s finished I won’t have much time for the bar side of the business and I wanted to ask you if you would be interested in being my bar manager.”

Allie just stared at him, her mind completely blank, she wanted to say something but it was as if her brain and mouth and forgotten how to work together.

“There’s no pressure, and I’d expect you’d need to talk it through with Bea, but if you want the job it’s yours, on the plus side you wouldn’t have to work the late shift, I’m planning on offering Shane an assistant bar manager position and taking on another assistant bar manager. It will mean you having to learn the last few things I haven’t shown you yet, but knowing how quickly you learn I know the bars in safe hands.”

“I…I really don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything right now, take your time to think about it and talk to Bea, now since you’ve saved me a lot of work this afternoon as soon as I’ve had a word with Shane I suggest you get yourself off home, could you ask him to come through.”

Allie went back to the bar, Shane looked worried when she said Will wanted a word, by the time he returned five minutes later with Will hot on his tail he was smiling from ear to ear.

“Go on now, you get yourself home and get ready for your dinner with your brother, and Allie…..don’t worry so much, everything will be fine.”

“Ok, ok I’m going, might even have time to get my hair done now,” she giggled as she walked to the office to pick her bag up. Getting to her car she decided to call Maxine, asking if she could fit her in for a trim, hearing that the salon would be quiet for the next hour she thanked her and said she would be over in a few minutes.

\------------------------------

Bea hated shopping, it didn’t matter who she was with or what she was shopping for and today was no exception to that rule. After Debbie had dragged her around at least a dozen shops she had had enough and was trying to get Debbie to go home but she wasn’t playing ball. Debbie knew exactly where they were going to end up and dragging a grumpy mum around with her was just slowing them down getting to where she wanted them to be. She’d bought the presents that she wanted to get and now was just looking for some new clothes to take to New Zealand with them. By the time Debbie had finished to say Bea was in a bad mood was an understatement, once Debbie suggested that they should have some lunch she relaxed a little, sitting in the diner Bea looked out of the window and suddenly started laughing.

“Now I know what you were up to.”

“Who me, I’m not up to anything.” Debbie said with a innocent look on her face.

“No of course not, is that a hint I need to get Allie her own leathers?” Bea pointed to the shop across the street.

“Now how did that get there?”

Bea shook her head and laughed.

“Not very subtle Deb.”

After they finished their lunch Bea paid the bill and the headed across the street, for someone who hated shopping as soon as Bea entered the store she was in her element surrounded by biker gear. After an hour it was Debbie who was grumpy, Bea finally put her out of her misery when she finally chose the leather jacket and pants and a helmet for Allie, Debbie had already bought the boots, as she figured it just because Allie would love them, she just couldn’t understand why it was so hard for her mum to make her mind up. When they got back to the car it they still quite early for a shopping trip that involved Debbie. It didn’t take them long to get home, Debbie taking the bags to her room knowing Allie wouldn’t go looking for anything in her there.

Debbie made a start on laying the table while Bea called the restaurant, even though they wouldn’t be open yet she knew the owner would be there, after she ended the call she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t bought any wine, letting Debbie know she was just running to the supermarket she took off. She picked up both red and white wine and some extra beer then threw in some juice as she didn’t know if Allies brother or his wife wouldn’t want to drink. By the time she got home Allie was already there, looking at the time she was surprised but knowing how nervous she was she thought Will had probably sent her home. Taking the bags from the car she went in finding Debbie and Allie sat on the sofa laughing their heads off.

\-------------------------------

  
Almost as soon as it turned 6:30pm Allie started getting really nervous and was pacing the lounge floor, Bea had gone to pick their order up and when she got back she passed the bags over to Debbie asking her to make sure they were kept warm. She’d done a pretty good job of keeping Allie calm until she had to go out to pick the food up. She had tried and failed to get hold of Allie twice but she’d managed to wriggle free, the third time she managed to wrap her arms round her waist, gently walking her backwards to the sofa and pulling her down with her so she was sitting in her lap. Allie tried wriggling free again but that just made Bea hold on to her a little tighter managing to turn her a little so she could pull Allies head to rest on her shoulder, after a few minutes sat like that she started to calm down, neither of them moved until there was a knock on the door at exactly 7pm. Debbie offered to answer it but Allie said she should, although she didn’t go alone, dragging Bea along behind her, taking a deep breath Allie opened the door there stood a grinning Alex with little Kyle in his arms who looked a lot like his dad, standing next to Alex was his wife. Allie was a little lost for words.

“Not inviting us in now sis?”

“Err, yer, sorry come in please,” Allie finally managed to mumble as she stepped to one side pulling Bea with her.

“You’ll have to excuse your sister she been a little nervous about tonight.”

“No worries Bea, I’m not doing much better.”

Closing the door they headed into the lounge Bea asking them to sit down and get comfortable. Debbie was still in the kitchen but as soon as she had heard voices she returned to the lounge, Alex spotting her imidiatly.

“You must be Beas daughter.”

“Yer, you must be Alex, I’m Debbie.” She said as she extended her hand towards him.

After they finished with the introductions Bea offered them all a drink, both Alex and Vicky accepting as they had got there in a taxi. They all sat and chatted for a while, Kyle taking an instant liking to Allie and he sat in her lap for five minutes before he decided that It was Beas turn to give him a cuddle. Shortly after he went back to his mum they went to the dining room. It wasn’t until they moved to the dining room that Bea realised that eating may be a problem with a one year old at the table with no height chair but Alex said it wasn’t a problem, Kyle wasn’t keen on his high chair so usually opted to sit in his dads lap when they ate.

Bea and Allie went to the kitchen to get the starters.

“Babe, are you sure they’ll like this?”

“Guess if they don’t we can just go to a diner.”

“Oh!”

“Allie I’m joking, I’m sure they’ll love it, but not as much as I love you, now just calm down.”

Taking the starters to the dining room they passed them out before taking their seats. Kyle was determined to have a piece of everyone’s Rosemary and sea salt bread although he didn’t like the dips. Allie seemed to have totally forgotten her nerves now, happily chatting with everyone, her eyes however were always wondering to Bea who was sat next to her. When they had finished their starters Be and Allie cleared away the plates returning a few minutes later with their main course, Bea had ordered pasta in tomato sauce for Kyle the adults all had a Sea bass fillet baked in a white wine sauce with new potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach. Vicky raved about the sea bass, it was one of her favourite things but she said she had never had any that was that good. Allie by now was so relieved that she had let Bea order from the restaurant. Debbie was in her element having someone that she could talk law with, no one else around the table Knew what they were talking about for the most part but Allie was so happy to see Debbie getting on so well with Alex. After letting their mains settle for a while Debbie cleared the plates away Bea offering to help and being told that she should stay where she was. Debbie returned a little later with dessert, Kyle had a slice of chocolate pizza while the rest of them had Blood orange and chocolate tart, strangle enough Kyle ate all his slice of chocolate pizza Debbie being the only one to finish dessert out of the adults. Opting to leave the plates for the time being they all retreated back to the lounge with a glass of wine and chatted. Two bottles of wine later Alex suddenly realised that it was getting late, asking what they were doing for Christmas. Allie telling him that they were going to New Zealand for Christmas, Alex had been a little disappointed but Bea said they should get together when they got back, telling them what they usually did for Christmas Alex completely understand why they went to New Zealand for Christmas. After they left the three of them finished clearing the dishes, Debbie and Allie washing and drying them while Bea put them away. When they had finished that they all agreed that they needed to go to bed. After undressing and slipping into bed Bea and Allie lay in bed talking for a while, Allie had completely forgotten about what Will had asked her earlier on, they soon both fell asleep cuddled up together like they always did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I feel better tomorrow and will manage to write with a clearer head.


	56. Chapter 56

Allie arrived at the bar the next day ready for her last shift before they flew to New Zealand surprised to find that the side door was unlocked, the first thing to run through her mind was that whoever had locked up the previous night had forgotten to lock it on their way out. Heading in the direction of the office she was surprised to see Will there.

“Allie, bright and early as always, how did dinner go?”

“Much better than I could have expected, Debbie and Alex didn’t shut up all evening, no idea what they were on about most of the time.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t get a chance to talk to Bea about your promotion?”

“Shit, no, it completely slipped my mind.”

“Hey it doesn’t matter, but I expect an answer when you come back to work.”

“I’ll try and talk to her later, but I think I’ll be spending my evening packing.”

“Almost forgot, after you left yesterday this arrived for you, I’m guessing it’s everything for your holiday.”

Taking the envelope from Will she opened it and to her surprise it was all the holiday details plus their plane tickets, she had been expecting it to arrive while they were away, it had been Wills idea to have it sent to the bar for that reason because there was more chance that the courier would find someone at the bar over the holidays who could sign for it. She was a little happier knowing that she finally had everything and not just the booking confirmation that she had printed out.

“You still worrying she’s not going to like it aren’t ya?”

“Yer, she doesn’t give anything away, Franky said she would love it as well but I’m still not sure, I’ve never bought a present for someone who meant so much to me before, unless you count my grandma and she would have been happy with a box of tissues,” she giggled.

“She’s going to love it, especially when you get there. And look on the bright side, you’ll miss out on the first week of the renovations.”

Shane arrived a little later, he and Allie setting up the bar ready for opening and chatting quite happily together mainly about how Allies dinner with her brother and his family had gone. The bar was pretty quiet for most of the beginning her shift, a few more customers came and went over the lunch period than was normal. By 3pm there were just the few regulars milling about who were always in at that time of day. Will had been sitting at the bar for the last hour talking to them both excitedly about the renovations. Shane had accepted Wills offer of assistant bar manager the previous day and was really happy when Allie had agreed that she would train him on stock taking and ordering, it wasn’t that he didn’t get on with Will but he and Allie had formed a bond, Will had tried to keep them working together because they had worked so well together since Allies first day, he was a little apprehensive about splitting them up but Shane had proved he was capable and Will wanted him to have more responsibility.

  
“Shane you wouldn’t mind if I let Allie go early again would you?”

“Na, she hasn’t even started packing yet and they leave tomorrow, besides it won’t get busy again until five and Linda will be in by then.”

“That’s settled then, get ya self home Allie get packing, and I want to hear about everything when you get back.”

“Will I can’t you let me go early yesterday.”

“You’re out numbered, Shane’s on my side, so go, no arguments.”

“Are you both sure?”

They both nodded, Allie knew there was no point in arguing, not when they ganged up on her, so she didn’t bother, she collected her things from the office, stopping long enough to send Bea a text to let her know she was on her way home.

\------------------------------

Debbie and Bea were having a leisurely morning, sitting on the lounge floor in their pyjamas wrapping presents. Debbie was already making plans for what they were going to do when they got to New Zealand, determined that she was going to show Allie all their favourite places, Bea saying they were only going for a week, they would need a month for everything Debbie was planning. In the end Debbie had agreed that she was probably trying to fit too much in especially since they would be going again. Now it was Beas turn to start feeling nervous and eventually admitted to Debbie that she didn’t know what she would do if they didn’t like Allie when they finally met her. Debbie had laughed so hard that she thought her sides would split, finally calming down she had tried to reassure her mum that not likening Allie wouldn’t be a problem, she joked that they would probably like her more than they liked the two of them. That even made Bea laugh a little.

After hiding Allies presents that were too big to take with them in Debbie’s room they had both showered and dressed deciding to go out for lunch, calling at Liz’s on the way home to pick up Allies gift that would be going with them. They had stayed for a coffee and a chat, as they were leaving Liz had reminded Bea that she expected a text when they arrived in New Zealand to let her know they had arrived there safely.

“Don’t I always text you?”

“You do love, but this year Is different it’s not just the two of you you might forget.”

“Don’t be daft, I’ve text you every year when we’ve gone, I’m hardly going to forget now.”

Debbie had wanted to see what her mum had got Allie but decided that she could wait for Christmas, she didn’t want to take a chance that she might slip up and tell Allie by mistake, she had done that a couple of years ago when Bea had bought Maxine something that she knew she really wanted and Debbie had let it slip out, leaving her to deal with a very annoyed mum riding her long into the new year about it. As soon as they got home Bea had disappeared upstairs to wrap it and put it in her hand luggage. Everyone else’s presents were wrapped and tucked away in Beas wardrobe. Bea was surprised when she received a text message from Allie saying she was on her way home, but relieved at the same time, they still hadn’t wrapped Debbie’s presents and they all needed to pack.

\------------------------------

Arriving home Allie found neither of them downstairs so she headed straight upstairs finding Bea sitting on the bed staring at an empty suitcase.

“Your supposed to put clothes in that not stare at it.”

“Huh?”

“Your suitcase babe, your meant to be packing it aren’t ya?”

“Yer, I just can’t be bothered to get up and pack it.”

“Want some help?”

Debbie came bouncing out of her room and into theirs.

“What time are we having dinner?”

“You’re thinking about dinner already it’s not quite three thirty yet.”

“No, I’m going over to see Booms, I’m all packed, you don’t mind do you?”

“No course not, be back before seven and we’ll order pizza.”

“Music to my ears, I won’t be late.”

Debbie ran down the stairs and out the front door before either of them could say anything else.

“Since we’ve got the place to ourselves for a while I reckon we should get our cases packed.”

“We’ve got the house to ourselves and you want to pack?”

“Got something better in mind?”

“I might.”

“Well how about I do you a deal, we do our packing as quick as we can, then I’ll go for a shower, and if you behave you come with me.”

Bea jumped up off the bed and went straight to the wardrobe pulling things out and throwing them at the bed, half of the clothes landing on the floor. Allie waited until she had finished before getting her own clothes out. She couldn’t help but giggle at Bea.

“Babe slow down, we’ve got a couple of hours ya know.”

“Thought you wanted to pack as quick as we could.”

  
“Yer I said pack not throw it in.”

Allie made Bea sit down while she finished packing, when she had nearly finished Bea went downstairs to the kitchen grabbing a bottle of wine and opening it then getting two glasses she went back to the bedroom, placing the glasses down on the bedside table she filled them both. Allie closed the cases and put them in front of the wardrobe before walking back over to the bed and sitting down taking the glass the Bea offered her.

“So since I did the packing I think I’ll have to have that shower on my own.”

“Hey, I started packing, you made me sit down.”

“Ya call that packing?”

“Fine.”

Bea put her glass down and lay back on the bed, arms behind her head.

“Are you sulking?”

“No.”

Allie stood up, putting her glass down before she stripped herself of her blouse and skirt leaving her underwear on. Standing at the bottom of the bed she watched Bea who hadn’t moved and was staring at the ceiling completely ignoring Allie. Kneeling on the end of the bed she crawled up Beas body, undoing her shirt as she went.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to get your attention, is is working yet?”

“Maybe.”

Allie lowered herself so their bodies were flush together, running her hands up the Beas sides under her shirt, making her shiver slightly. Reaching her arms round her back she managed to unhook her bra, some how she managed to tug her shirt off and her bra before Bea managed to flip them over and kissing her as if her life depended on it. The two hours they had quickly disappeared leaving them tangled together on the bed neither of them wanting to be the first to move until Allie looked at the time, untangling herself from Bea she shot into the bathroom turning on the shower and jumping in, quickly followed by Bea. They managed to actually shower, both putting that down to them knowing that Debbie would be home anytime in the next thirty minutes. They only just managed to get dry and into their pyjamas when they heard Debbie coming through the front door. Walking down the stairs they were met by a grinning Debbie.

“I hope you two have done your packing.”

“Yes, you can go and check if that will make you feel better.”

“No, I believe you, if you haven’t you’ll only have to get up extra early and do it anyway.”

  
All three of them flopped down on the sofa with Bea in the middle, Debbie turning on the tv and flicking through the channels while Allie called for the pizza. Allie cuddled into Beas side while they waited, 45 minutes later there was a knock on the door, Debbie jumped up saying she would get it, putting the pizza on the coffee table she went to the kitchen to grab a can of Coke for her and two bottles of beer. They watched tv while they ate Bea and Allie cuddled up together as much as was possible while trying to eat.

“I’m going for a shower then I’m having an early night, how early do we have to get up?”

“Our flights ten thirty, we’ll be up for six, guess you could stay in bed until seven but no later.”

“Ugh, that’s the middle of the night.”

Debbie took the empty pizza box beer bottles and her Coke can to the kitchen before heading for the shower.

“Night mum, night Allie, love you both.”

“We love ya too Deb.”

Allie just cuddled up to Be more,

“You a mind reader now?”

“Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said that, I’ll try and engage my brain next time before I open my mouth. It just came out, I’ll talk to Deb in the morning, tell her I should have thought about what I was saying before…..”

Allie put her hand on Beas cheek turning her face towards her and kissed her.

“It doesn’t matter…..it might sound strange but I do love her, you didn’t say anything wrong.”

“Yer?”

“Yes, I do, so stop worrying, now hadn’t we better be getting to bed, we do have an early start in the morning.”

“Yer I guess we should, you are still ok coming with us aren’t you?”

“I’m not going to lie, I’m nervous but you’ll be there, both of you will, so as long as your dad doesn’t hate the sight of me in the first ten seconds I’ll be fine.”

Locking up and turning off the lights they went up to bed, Allie was nervous but she wanted to go, Bea had gone above anything Allie had expected at dinner the previous night and Debbie, well you would have thought Debbie and Alex had know each other their own lives. Getting into bed and holding each other close Allie knew that she could handle anything as long as Bea was with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should manage a better chapter tomorrow.


	57. Chapter 57

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And it's off to New Zealand they go.

Bea woke up from a deep sleep and sat bolt upright, a sudden realisation that they hadn’t wrapped Debbie’s presents dragging her from Allies embrace and out of bed. Turning on the lamp she retrieved the boxes from their hiding place, looking over at Allie who had turned over and was now looking at her through half open eyes with a confused look on her face.

“Babe what time is it?”

Bea looked over at the clock, shaking her head when she saw 05:07 in bright red looking back at her.

“I’m sorry it’s only just gone five.”

Allie pulled herself up into a sitting position rubbing her eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“We haven’t wrapped Debbie’s presents yet.”

“That’s what woke you up?”

“I guess it did, I don’t know, I just woke up.”

Allie pulled the covers back and swung her legs out of bed, getting up she walked over to Bea and wrapped her arms around her, “you’re too cute when your worried you know,” she whispered in her ear. Pulling out of the embrace she left the bedroom and went to the kitchen to put the coffee on, remembering that Beas present was still in her bag and still in its original envelope. Retrieving her bag from behind the sofa where she had left it the night before she pulled out the envelope along with the gift box that she was going to put the documents and tickets in taking it to the kitchen with her, while she waited for the coffee she took everything out of the envelope double checking that she hadn’t left anything behind before placing it in the box and tying a ribbon around it, she smiled to herself, she had to like it. Pouring two mugs of coffee she picked up the box and went back to the bedroom finding Bea sat on the bed waiting for her.

“Are you going help me wrap these?”

“Yer, course, made you a coffee, thought you could use it.”

“Good idea, what have you got there?”

“Nosey aren’t ya? Drink your coffee, I’ll turn the alarm off before it gives us both a heart attack in half an hour.”

They sat on the bed boxes and wrapping paper surrounding them, Beas eyes kept darting over to the box that Allie had put on the bed, she couldn’t help but wonder what was in it, she was never fond of surprises and part of her was now wishing that she had given Allie some sort of idea what she would like. They finished wrapping and tidied the wrapping paper away, Allie went for a shower first making sure to put the box out of Beas sight. She wasn’t in the shower long knowing that they had a lot to do before they left, walking back into the bedroom Bea winked at her as she passed her on her way to the shower. Allie was dressed and just finishing putting her makeup on when Bea returned to the bedroom. Finishing up she stood up and looked at Bea who was still trying to decide what to wear.

“How do I look?”

“Good enough to eat,” Bea grinned looking over her shoulder at her.

“Good, them I’m going to make a start on breakfast, you will make sure Debbie’s up before you come down won’t ya?”

“Yer, think I better had, and I’ll bring the cases down with me.”

\-------------------------------

Franky dropped them off at the airport, helping them with the cases, and giving them all a hug.

“Now you all go and enjoy yourselves, and Blondie, stop worrying their gonna love ya.”

After checking in and going through the security checks they decided to get a coffee while they waited for their flight to start boarding. Debbie telling Allie all the places she wanted to show her when they got there not noticing that Allie had gone really quiet, Bea took Allies hand in hers and gave it a slight squeeze, getting a smile in return. A few minutes later their flight started boarding.  
Allie had never flown before and Bea knew that she was nervous about the flight, she had tried to reassure her that it would be over before she knew it and that she wouldn’t be going anywhere.  
Finding their seats Debbie had the window seat, she always did, she had loved looking out of the window even when she was little so even now she always had the window seat. Allie was in the middle, Bea hoping that her sitting between them would make her feel a little better. Before Allie had even really realised what was happening they were taking off, grabbing hold of Beas hand she squeezed it.

“Allie, look at me, it’s fine, I’m here and I’m not leaving you.”

“I know,” she croaked out.

Debbie had looked over at Allie seeing how nervous she looked she had taken hold of her other hand.

“Babe, you can take your seatbelt off now.”

“Hmmm, what, are we in the air already?”

“Yes, told you you’d be ok.”

“I need to tell you something, it completely slipped my mind we’ve been so busy theses last two days I forgot, Wills going to renovate the bar, building an extension on the empty plot next to it and opening a restaurant in the extension, well…..he asked me to be the bar manager because he’s going to concentrate on the restaurant.”

“That’s fantastic, what did you say?”

“He said I didn’t have to give him an answer until we got back, but he said I should talk to you about it.”

“Do you want to do it?”

“I think so, it means I won’t be doing the late shifts unless they need cover and Shane’s already accepted an assistant bar manager position.”

“I think if you want to do it then you should, but no late shifts sound good to me.”

“Me too, I hate working late.”

\------------------------------

Just a little over three and half hours later they had landed in Auckland and were waiting at the baggage claim.

“Mum did you change the time already on your watch?”

“I did that before we left, you forgot again didn’t ya?”

“Yer, always.”

“Change the time?”

“Allie were two hours in front now babe, did I forget to tell you that?”

“I think you must have, two hours isn’t too bad I guess.”

After grabbing their suitcases Bea took Allies hand in hers and lead her through to arrivals, not seeing her dad anywhere although she was paying more attention to Allie than anything else.Debbie spotted him after a few seconds.

“Gramps!” She took off running in his direction.

Bea looked over to where Debbie had taken off to squeezing Allies hand she leaned into her ear and whispered to her, “he’s going to love you, not as much as I do, but he’s going to love you.”

Bea could feel Allie trying to lag behind her but she wasn’t going to let go of her hand, walking towards her dad and Debbie was taking a little longer than she would have liked but she had slowed down a little trying not to make Allie feel any more pressure than she knew she was already feeling. Now standing in front of her dad she let Allies had go just long enough for him to hug her picking her up off her feet as he did.

“It’s so good to have you home baby girl.”

“Dad, will you please put me down, I’m too old for this.”

“You’ll never be too old.”

Putting her back down he turned to Allie who at that moment in time suddenly seemed to feel really shy, the floor being more interesting than anything else. Bea grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her gently to her side.

“Dad, this is Allie….Allie this is my dad, Michael.”

Allie looked up slowly managing a small smile before extending her hand and managing to speak just above a whisper, “it’s nice to finally meet you.”

Taking a step towards her he threw his arms round her and whispered in Allies ear, “and it’s nice to finally meet the woman who makes my baby girl happy, call me dad.”  
Loosening his grip on Allie he pulled Bea into a hug with them both before letting them both go, grabbing their bags and walking towards the exit, looking over his shoulder, “are you three coming or are you just going to stand there?”  
Bea wrapped her arm around Allies shoulders and they followed him, Debbie walking behind grumbling that she had to carry her own bags. Reaching the car Beas dad opened the boot and put there bags in while telling them to get in, Debbie getting in the passenger seat leaving Bea and Allie to sit together in the back. Bea retrieved her phone from her pocket, switching in on she sent a quick text to Liz letting her know they had arrived. On the drive back to her dads house he couldn’t help but look in the rear view mirror at them, he had been concerned when Bea had first told him about Allie but now, seeing them together with his own eyes he was glad that he had waited before saying anything that could have sounded negative, it was unmistakable the happiness he saw in Beas eyes, and the way they constantly looked at each other he could see the love they had for each other. Pulling up at the house Allie was shocked, the place was massive, the garden looked like it went on forever from where she was. Getting out of the car they grabbed their bags and went inside.

“Deb you’re in your mums old room.”

“Yer gramps sure, what about mum and Allie?”

“Don’t worry about them, get gone and unpack.”

Debbie wondered off up the stairs not actually sure what was going on but wasn’t going to pass up having a room with an en suite.

“Thought you two would appreciate some peace and quiet so I thought you wouldn’t mind camping out in the guest house.”

Allie looked at Bea who just laughed, catching the keys as her dad threw them to her.

“Come on I’ll show ya.” Bea grabbed Allies hand and walked through the dining room, through the double doors, past the pool and down a small tree lined path that lead to the guest house. Reaching the door Bea unlocked it, pushed the door open and waited for Allie to go inside.

“Think you can cope spending a week here with me?”

Allie just nodded, the guest house wasn’t massive, there was a small open plan living, kitchen area with double doors leading to a small deck area. And a bedroom with an en suite.

“My gran used to stay here when she came over, don’t think it’s been used in the last three years.”

“It’s fantastic, I thought we’d be in the house.”

“Maybe I mentioned to dad how nervous you were about coming with us. Anyway come on let’s get our things put away then we can go back up to the house.”

They finally dragged themselves back to house an hour later after Bea got a text from Debbie telling her that her Uncle Andrew was on his way over and they were going out for dinner. Making it back to the house just before Andrew, Jessica and their boys arrived. Andrew spotted Bea straight away as soon as they walked in,

“Well I’ll be if it isn’t my little sis, and I’m guessing you have to be Allie.”

“Andy.” Bea jumped up from her seat and hugged him.

“Aunt Bea!” The twins screamed.

“Oh god, it’s just Bea, how many more times, you make me feel old.”

Jack and Josh made a run for her both grabbing her and hugging her before they saw Allie. After she finally managed to introduce Allie to them all they needed to leave. Debbie, Bea. And Allie in her dads car the rest of them in her brothers. Pulling up in the car park outside ‘Prego’ they all headed inside, being a mainly walk in restaurant it wasn’t too hard to get a table, the longest you ever had to wait was thirty minutes, they all walked to the bar and ordered a drink while they waited, about twenty minutes later they were shown to their table. The conversation was light something Allie was relieved about, she wasn’t sure what Bea had told them about her. A waiter brought them the menus over, Debbie and the twins already knowing that they wanted pizza. Bea and Allie both decided on the spaghetti bolognese, Jessica ordered the snapper and her dad and Andrew went with the surf and turf, something that made Bea giggle when she told Allie that it was the only reason they ever went there. They chatted while they were waiting for their meals to arrive.

“So sis, tell me how did you ever meet Allie?”

“Well you know we kinda ran into each other when I was on a case, we got talking and it sort of went from there.”

“Must have been some case to just run into someone so beautiful.”

“You could say that.”

Their food arrived then, something Allie was happy about, she knew Bea wouldn’t say anything that would make her uncomfortable but she was still nervous, Debbie knew how they had met and she hoped that she wouldn’t say anything. The rest of the evening went well, Allie even relaxed enough to join in the conversation. They had all decided that they didn’t want dessert and as they were meeting up at the beech the next day said they should all be getting back. Andrew paid the bill after a disagreement with his dad about who would pay, they all left the restaurant saying their goodnights to each other. When they got back Debbie said she was tired and just wanted a shower and an early night. Bea and Allie sat with her dad for a little while chatting before Allie started yawning, Bea saying that they had better go back to the guest house before she fell asleep. They said goodnight and wondered back to the guest house Allies arm round Beas waist and Beas round Allies shoulders, neither of them noticing that Michael was stood watching them with a smile on his face, “never thought I’d see my baby girl so happy,” he thought to himself before turning off the lights and going to bed.

“How are feeling now?”

“Much better, they’re all so nice.”

“What did you expect?”

“I don’t know, I just thought….well ya know you used to be married and everything and I guess I thought they might have thought that I was just with you for a bit of fun or something.”

“They don’t, trust me, and even if they had have thought that I know it’s not true.”

“You sure?”

“Course I’m sure, would you be here now if that’s all I was to you?”

“Hell no….I wouldn’t have come all this way to meet your family if that's all you were to me."

Walking into the guest house they both decided that they really should go to bed, a day at the beech was going to be fun, but after traveling they were both quite tired. Crawling into bed they cuddled up to each other and fell asleep almost instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter will be posted tomorrow, let Christmas in New Zealand commence.


	58. Chapter 58

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't get this chapter finished yesterday, I started it just became pre occupied with something else so it didn't get finished.

7am the next morning Bea and Allie were ripped from a deep sleep by Debbie banging loudly on the door of the guest house.

“Mum……mum…..MUM”

Bea looked at Allie and groaned, “I forgot to warn you about this.”  
Slipping out from under the covers she went to the door unlocking it and pulling it open, almost getting knocked over by an excited Debbie.

“Gramps said you have to get up breakfasts almost ready. Where’s Allie?”

“In bed where we all should be it’s too early.”

Debbie ran into the bedroom diving on the bed, “get up, were going to the beach soon.”

“Deb, really, how can you have this much energy at this time of day?”

Getting back off the bed Debbie grabbed the covers throwing them on the floor, Allie so grateful that the previous night they had been so tired sleeping had been the only thing on either of their minds.

“Ok, ok, I’m getting up, can I at least get dressed?”

“Nope…..do I look like I got dressed to run down here? PJ’s are fine.”

Debbie ushered the pair out of the guest house, before they even entered the main house they could smell breakfast.

“Something else I forgot to mention, dad cooks a mean breakfast.”

Sitting down at the kitchen table Debbie passed them both a plate, Allies eyes going wide in amazement at the amount of food on her plate, bacon, sausage, hash browns, grilled tomatoes, eggs and mushrooms, she looked at Bea and back at the plate, pretty certain if she managed to eat it all she either wouldn’t be able to move for the rest of the day or explode. Debbie handed them both a cup of coffee before getting her own plate and sitting down closely followed by her gramps.

“Well tuck in.”

“Dad, do you always have to cook this much?”

“It’s good for ya, now eat up.”

Debbie of course was the first to finish, leaving her plate in the sink she excused herself to go for a shower. Bea finally cleared her plate, rubbing her stomach and groaning, Allie was struggling to finish hers not want wanting to appear rude she was trying until Michael spotted her struggle,

“I wont be offended if you can’t finish it all, I do have a tendency to cook way too much, I forget not everyone has a bottomless pit like our Deb.”

Allie pushed her plate to the side with a sigh. Michael cleared the table telling Bea to stay where she was when she tried to help. Twenty minutes later Debbie came charging down the stairs, bag in hand stopping in her tracks when she saw her mum and Allie still sitting at the kitchen table.

“Seriously, why aren’t you two getting ready?”

“Because we’re stuffed and don’t want to move, unlike you we can’t all eat and eat and still not be full.”

An hour later they were showered and changed and helping pack the car up with coolers and towels and everything else Debbie and Michael had stacked by the car.

\------------------------------

Arriving at the beach an hour later Andrew, Jessica and the kids were already there, splashing about in the water, Debbie jumped out of the car and started running down the beach towards the others. Running into the water she immediately got double teamed by the twins. Bea helped her dad get everything that they needed for the time being out of the boot, walking down the beach her free hand entwined with Allies. Putting everything down close to where Andrew had left their things Bea and Allie grabbed two towels and wondered a little further away wanting some time to themselves but not wanting to be too far away from the others. Laying their towels out Allie pulled her t shirt and shorts off reviling the pale blue bikini she was wearing underneath. Bea couldn’t take her eyes off her.

“See something you like.”

“Huh huh, you think anyone would notice if we grabbed a taxi and went back to the house?”

“As much as I really do like the sound of that, and believe me I really do, I thought the whole point was for you to be spending time with your family.”

“Yer, I know.”

“So…..are you going to show me what you’ve got under those shorts or not?”

Bea pulled her t shirt off and threw it at Allie before taking her shorts off revealing a black bikini, Allies mouth dropped open.

“I think you had the right idea about the taxi,” Allie giggled throwing a wink at Bea.

Sitting down on their towels Allie got the sun screen out of her bag and started applying it to her legs and arms before turning her attention to her stomach and chest, Turning to Bea she held the bottle out to her,

“will ya do my back?”

“Yer, turn round then.”

Allie did as she was told enjoying the feel of her hands on her back, she made sure to take her time knowing that Allie was enjoying the extra attention, when she finished she handed her the bottle back.

“Want me to do yours now?”

“If you want to I’m not going to say no am I?”

“Lie on your stomach.”

Allie straddled her rubbing the sun screen into her back as slowly and sensually as she could, not caring if anyone was watching them, after all it was innocent enough, leaning forward she kissed her on the shoulder.

“All done,” she whispered in Beas ear, moving off her back to her own towel she passed her the bottle back grinning at her.

“You’re a fucking tease you know that right?”

“If you say so babe.”

Finishing applying the sun screen Bea lay back on her towel her head turned towards Allie who was laying down with her eyes closed, she couldn’t and didn’t want to take her eyes off her, she could hardly believe that she was here with her family and the most perfect woman she had ever seen in her life, a woman that she loved more than life itself, thinking back to the previous Christmas she had been on the same beach with her family sitting by herself watching her brother and his family laughing and joking around and couldn’t help but wonder what she had done that was so wrong to leave her living alone except for Debbie, quite convinced that she would never meet anyone, never be able to trust anyone enough to let them in, but here she was now not sitting back just watching her family being happy she was happy, happier than she ever thought could be possible. Allie opened her eyes, turned on her side and propped herself up on her elbow.

“What are you thinking about?”

“You, about how last Christmas I was sat here alone, but mostly about you.”

  
“You do realise that you’re stuck with me now don’t ya? I’m not going anywhere ever, your never going to sit on this beach without me again.”

“You say that now.”

“I’m not just saying it, I mean it.”

Looking down the beach they saw Debbie running towards them being chased by Jack and Josh, they both laughed it was just too funny, an 18 year old trying to out run a pair of 13 year olds. Even though Debbie was older than the boys she had always loved spending time with them, Beas thoughts turned to the memory of the Christmas a then 5 year old Debbie met them for the first time, she had been fascinated by them, spent most of the holiday as close to them as she could be when they were around, and when Andrew had sat with her on the sofa allowing her to hold Jack the smile on her face was so bright, although the constant bombardment of her saying she wanted her mum to have a baby because she wanted a little brother had not sat well with Bea, luckily by the time they had arrived home all thoughts of wanting a brother went completely out of her mind as soon as they had stepped back into the house to be greeted by Harry passed out on the sofa surrounded by empty beer cans and bottles.  
Allie lay there just watching Bea watching them, she could tell that something was on her mind but didn’t want to say anything right then, why spoil a perfectly good day for no reason?

Ten minutes later they were all sat together, Andrew and Michael had gone to the car to get the coolers, refusing Beas offer to help them, saying she should stay there with Allie. They all sat and ate lunch together, Andrew deciding that it was the perfect opportunity to regale Allie with stories of things his little sister had done when she was younger, ending with Bea chasing him around the beach threatening to burry him in the sand up to his neck when she got hold of him, not that she managed to catch him. When she finally gave in she walked back to Allie holding out her hands which she accepted allowing Bea to pull her up, looking deep into her eyes the whole time not once noticing that Debbie had her camera out and was taking photos of them. Walking hand in hand they walked down to the waters edge, turning to face each other Bea completely oblivious to the fact that Debbie had followed then still with her camera in hand snapping away and the rest of her family looking on as they leaned into each other and kissed. They walked down the beach hand in hand for about a mile before sitting down Bea behind Allie her arms wrapped around her and her chin resting on her shoulder.

“I’m glad you came with us.”

“Thought you said you weren’t coming without me?”

“I didn’t want to, the thought of leaving you behind actually hurt."

“If I’d really refused to come with you would you have stayed at home?”

“We’d have had a very stroppy Debbie to deal with but yes I would.”

Allie turned her head a little to see Debbie walking down the beach towards them.

“Think we’re in trouble now for deserting them,” Allie nodded up the beach in Debbie’s direction.

“Guess we better start walking back then.”

Getting up they started walking back up the beach, Debbie telling them that they were getting ready to leave because the boys were getting bored, something Debbie could never understand, they always got bored of the beach so easily. Helping to pack everything back in the car they said their goodbyes and left in their separate directions. Once back at the guest house they both showered and got changed before returning to the main house to sit beside the pool. After chatting about what they were going to do the next day, Bea and Allie saying that they were going to do some shopping, Debbie saying she was spending the day with gramps, slightly puzzling Bea because she would normally go shopping with her. Deciding that today was not a day anymore cooking was required Michael had called for pizza much to Debbie’s delight and they had all retreated back to the lounge to relax and watch a Christmas movie that Debbie had seen countless times in the past but insisted on watching again. After eating Bea had pulled Allie into her lap and they spent the remainder of the evening sat like that, her dad looking over occasionally at the pair with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may get another chapter finished today, if I do I will post it as soon as it's finished


	59. Chapter 59

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spot of last minute Christmas shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a short chapter but I wanted to make up for not posting on Sunday.

Much to Beas relief they weren’t abruptly woken up by an over excited Debbie the next morning, glancing at the time it was just gone eight, Allie was still soundly sleeping one of her legs over both of hers and an arm firmly wrapped around her, her head buried in the crook of her neck, taking her thoughts back to the morning that she had woken up exactly like this with Allie back in the hotel a couple of days after she had first found her. Turning over onto her side slowly so as to hopefully not disturb Allie she lay there just looking at her, still totally conscious of the effect that Allie still had on her although now it didn’t seem strange and it didn’t feel weird, it felt comfortable, like this was what she had been looking for her whole life but hadn’t know or realised that was what she wanted, thinking back to what Liz had said not long ago, she hadn’t had the chance to experience anything other than Harry, at least not until Allie came into her life and now she knew that she didn’t want to ever be apart from her, although the doubt that one day Allie would decide at she didn’t want to be with her anymore still had a place in her head but she did try to tell herself that she wasn’t going to leave. Her nagging self doubt would always be there, she couldn’t imagine that it would ever leave her, being dragged from her thoughts as only Allie could,

“Your staring again.”

“Am not.”

“Babe you’ve been doing it almost every morning since you first stayed with me in the hotel.”

“I can’t help it, I can’t help but think that one day I’ll wake up and you won’t be here, guess I just don’t want to forget what you look like.”

Allie pulled her closer,

“I’m not going anywhere, ever, no one has ever treated me the way you do, no one has ever made me feel so safe and so loved, you’re stuck with me, I’d only leave you if you said you didn’t want me anymore, and even then I’d probably sit on your doorstep and beg you to have me back every time I saw you.”

“Think we should get up really don’t you?”

“I guess, I figured Debbie would have woken us up again.”

Getting up they showered together, reminding each other that they had to go shopping for the the remainder of the presents that they needed to buy they just about managed to keep it to washing, but only just. After getting dressed they walked up to the main house finding only Michael sitting at the kitchen table with a coffee and his morning newspaper. Looking up from the newspaper seeing it wasn’t Debbie who still hadn’t woken up yet.

“Thought you two would be sleeping in.”

“Really, I thought we had, it’s not often we sleep in past six thirty.”

“Ahhh the joys of work err? So glad I’m semi retired.”

“Ok dad, rub it in why don’t ya?”

“I was thinking eggs for breakfast, I doubt Allie could face what I cooked up yesterday, so, scrambled or poached?”

Just as he asked a sleepy looking Debbie came walking down the stairs, “scrambled.”

Bea and Allie both laughed, “I guess the boss has spoken dad, scrambled is fine, need any help?”

“Baby girl you’re on holiday, and I’m quite capable of whipping up eggs and toast, ya can get your own coffee though.”

\------------------------------

  
An hour later they were on their way over to Sylvia Park shopping centre after all agreeing that they all wanted to go there, Allie and Bea wondering off on their own, leaving Debbie with her gramps, usually they would stick together but this year Debbie didn’t want to do that. Parking up in the car park they all agreed on a place to meet later for a late lunch. Heading inside Bea wasn’t sure what she was looking for, she and Andrew and Jessica never bought anything spectacular for each other choosing to buy better presents for the kids, not that Debbie was a kid anymore but being Andrews only niece he still liked to spoil her. Bea realised that she hadn’t actually had much time with Andrew to ask what the boys would like this year, placing a quick call to her brother he filled her in on what the boys were seriously wanting this year, and in return him asking for an idea what to get Allie, not an easy question to answer right at the second when he asked until something caught Allies eye and she gestured to Bea that she was going to look at something, giving her time to tell him what her favourite perfume was, Andrew grumbling that she wasn’t being helpful but really she couldn’t think of anything else. Ending the call she looked over to where she had seen Allie wonder off to but couldn’t see her anywhere, wondering over to a bench she decided to just sit and wait for her hoping that she wasn’t going to get lost. About five minutes later Allie plopped down on the bench next to her.

“Where did you go?”

“Nosey…..actually I just found something for Debbie but I’m not showing you.”

“Is that right, you think I can’t keep a secret?”

Allie just shrugged, Bea got up pulling Allie to her feet before heading off in the direction of a near by computer game store. After making the purchases that Andrew had suggested they carried on looking around the different shops making a few more purchases before they went to meet Debbie and Michael for lunch. Of course it was Debbie’s choice as always, and she wanted a burger. After lunch they had just about finished all the shopping that they need to do, Debbie had already taken her bags back to car which was generally unusual for her because she liked to show off what she had bought normally. After another hour they had made their last few purchases and were heading back to the house when Debbie’s mobile rang, hearing her agreeing to something before she hung up.

“You don’t mind if I go over to uncle Andrews do you and stay over mum?”

“Why would I? You always go over for at least one night.”

“Yes but it’s Christmas Eve tomorrow, I’ll be back before dinner.”

Arriving back at the house Andrew was already waiting for her sitting on the bonnet of his car. Retrieving her bags from the boot she ran in the house straight upstairs to grab what she needed for the night, hugging Bea, Allie and her gramps saying she would see them all before dinner the next day and she was gone. Bea found it pretty strange that they had taken off so fast but didn’t dwell on it too much. After taking their bags back to the guest house they decided that an afternoon relaxing by the pool was what they felt like, Michael saying that he had some presents to wrap but would join them as soon as he had done. Getting changed into shorts and t shirts they went and sat by the pool. The conversation turning towards what would happen on Christmas Day, Allie sounding a little disappointed when Bea told her that they didn’t give the presents out until about an hour before lunch, she was apprehensive already about giving Bea her present finding out that she was going to have to give it to her with all her family there just made that feeling get worse. She had started to wonder if she should wait until they were alone later on Christmas Day to give it to her, she had managed to find something else for her that day when she had wondered off but then again she wanted to go with what they always did so she tried to put it to the back of her mind for now.

Michael joined them an hour or so later carrying three bottles of water with him depositing them on the table.

“Dad, any idea why Deb was in such a rush to get out of here?”

“She doesn’t tell me anything, reminds me of you at her age.”

Bea hung her head, remembering exactly where she had been at Debbie’s age. Allie looked over to her, getting up from the sun lounger she was laying on and sitting next to Bea, placing her hand under her chin and raising her head so she was looking into her eyes, seeing a sadness there that made her heart feel like it would break, leaning in she gave her a kiss on the cheek before whispering in her ear, “try not to think about him, I know it’s difficult but he’s not here.” Pulling back she looked into her eyes again. Bea just nodded not knowing how to answer her in that moment. A little later Michael had gone inside to decide on what they were going to have for dinner. Bea had moved over a little on the sun lounger that she was laying on making room for Allie to lay beside her, not long later they had both fallen asleep.

\------------------------------

After dinner Bea and Allie went back to the guest house to spend the rest of the evening alone in front of the tv. They had been sat together quite happily for an hour before Bea had pushed Allie back on the sofa leaning in to kiss her, it started out quite innocent but soon turned more heated, hands roaming over each other’s bodies both trying to pull each other’s shirts off, eventually Allie just gave in allowing Bea to pull her shirt off and she threw it behind her, before removing her own and going back to kissing Allie turning her attention to her neck kissing and nipping at her pulse point before kissing across her chest and up the other side of her neck enjoying the moans that kept escaping from Allie. Reaching her hand around her back she unclasped her bra and gently tugging it off her throwing it in the direction that her shirt had gone. Moments later Bea had gotten up,off the sofa, turning the tv off before picking Allie up and carrying her to the bedroom putting her gently down on the bed before pulling her shorts and panties off in one go, Allie dragging herself further up the bed as Bea was removing the rest of her own clothes and crawling up the bed, around three in the morning they had finally both collapsed exhausted into each other’s arms and soon fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoping I will manage another chapter tomorrow, just need to clear my head and get on with writing if I can.


	60. Chapter 60

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael catches Allie by surprise and wants to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the greatest of chapters, mainly just setting the theme for Christmas Day and Beas birthday.

Waking up in a sun filled bedroom, as closing the curtains the previous night had not been a top priority, still tight in Beas embrace Allie glanced at the time, it was only just past seven, she figured that really she should still be tired but no she was very much awake and full of energy. She lay there for a while watching Bea sleep feeling like she was the luckiest woman in the world, no matter how much she had wanted Bea even in those first few days, and boy had she wanted her, Bea sent her brain into a jumble of innocent and not so innocent thoughts and set her body on fire, she never really thought that she would reciprocate her feelings. On most mornings like this her head would return to places that she didn’t want to think about, thoughts that Bea would wake up one morning and not want her anymore, that she’d end up alone once more on the streets trying to survive as best she could, but oddly she found that this morning was not like that. She was safe, she felt loved and Beas family had accepted her, something most of her own family had refused to do. She really could just stay like this for the rest of her life she thought until the need to pee became too much and she slowly extracted herself from a soundly sleeping Bea. After finishing up in the bathroom she pulled on a pair of shorts and t shirt, she needed a coffee and since they had agreed that they were really only using the guest house to sleep in she had to walk up to the main house. Knowing that the double doors would be unlocked she quietly crept in closing the door behind her and walked in the direction of the kitchen the smell of coffee already hanging in the air. Michael was sitting in his usual spot at the kitchen table reading the paper, looking up he saw Allie and smiled.

“I wasn’t expecting you up this early.”

“Errr, yer, I woke up and I needed a coffee.”

“Help yourself, Bea still asleep?”

“Yer, still dead to the world.”

“Wasn’t her snoring that woke you up then?” He chuckled.

Allie just giggled not really sure how to handle actually being alone with Beas dad, until now they had always been together in his presence and she was feeling really nervous again.

“Sit with me please,” Michael said as he folded the newspaper placing it down on the table.

Allie felt like she wanted to throw up, was this the time he was going to warn her off, tell her he didn’t want her anywhere near his daughter. She knew Bea hadn’t told him the whole truth as to how they met but couldn’t help feeling that he could sense it, that he knew what she was, or at least had been, and if this was going to be the 'I want you out of my daughters life' how could she stay there, how was she going to get through Christmas, how could she explained it to Bea? Nervously approaching the table coffee in hand she took a seat. Why hadn’t she just gone straight back to bed, right now she just wanted to back in bed curled up with Bea not sitting here facing what she imagined was going to be a conversation that was going to break her.

“Don’t look so nervous Allie, I just want to get to know the woman who stole my little girls heart a little better.”

Allie couldn’t say anything her head was in a spin and her mouth was dry she took a sip of her coffee and tried to smile at him.

“Listen, I’m guessing that she’s told you all about that prick of an ex husband of hers, and that’s not something she finds easy or ever does willingly normally, if she’s told you about the whole prick train wreck then you really must be special. I bet your wondering how I could have agreed to them getting married in the first place huh? When they came to us and told us she was pregnant I was angry, so angry. She was growing up too fast, she was and always will be my baby girl, I wasn’t angry with her really I was angry with myself, angry at the whole damn world. And when I calmed down enough to see it I didn’t want her to marry him, I pulled her to one side a few days later and told her she didn’t have to go through with it, that I would support her no matter what. I didn’t like Harry from the first time I ever spoke to him, I couldn’t put my finger on it then but he made me uneasy and I didn’t want that for my baby girl, her mother was the one who wouldn’t back down, she always thought that she was better than everyone else, and a pregnant unmarried daughter was not part of her plan. Strangely enough though she actually hated the prick, wouldn’t even go to the wedding in the end. We split up not long after that stupid woman has never even met her own granddaughter. So I guess what I’m trying to really say really is that…..we’ll when she told me about you I was shocked I can’t deny that, but ya know there was something different in her voice, she sounded lighter, carefree and happy and believe me I hadn’t heard that in her voice since she met him.”

Pausing for a moment to take a sip of his coffee he looked at Allie who at least had started to look less nervous.

“After she called and told me I thought about what she’d said long and hard, and ya know I realised something, she passed up everything she could have been doing at her age to marry a complete wanker and have her daughter. I’m convinced now that she didn’t really know what she wanted, and I wish I’d pushed her to talk to me more she’d never been interested in having a boyfriend before then, I didn’t think about it back then, not that I really need to think about it now either. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m happy you found each other because you just seem so right together, so happy and I never thought I’d see that and it broke my heart.”

Allie sat there trying to take in everything that Michael had just said to her, it wasn’t what she was expecting at all, after a few minutes she finally felt able to speak.

“My gran always used to tell me that there was someone out there that I was meant to be with and I never believed that until I met Bea, I didn’t think it was possible to love someone so completely. I wish my parents could have been more like you, they did not take the whole gay thing so well, not that it matters now, they’re both dead. My brother couldn’t care less, if I hadn’t been with Bea I doubt very much I would ever have seen him again.”

“I’m sorry, I’m guessing your parents kicked you out?”

“Yes, my gran was my rock, she took me in encouraged me to finish school, unfortunately when she died I ended up homeless, and I ended up doing things to survive that I hate myself for.”

“Hey, hey, we’ve all done things we’re not proud of, even me in the past. You just keep putting that smile on my baby girls face and we’re all good. Besides that guest house out there hasn’t been used for years.”

Allie couldn’t stop the blush that crept over her cheeks, and it didn’t go un noticed by Michael who just laughed.

“I think I better be getting back, if Bea wakes up and in not there she come looking for me.”

“Yer, she will and then she’ll get mad at me for keeping you talking for so long, maybe you should take her a coffee in case she’s already awake.”

“I think you might be right, she gets awfully cranky without a coffee in the morning.”

“I’ll be starting breakfast in about half an hour, bacon and eggs ok with you? I won’t force a huge breakfast on you.”

“Sounds good.”

Allie refilled her mug then poured one for Bea making her way back to guest house thankful that she hadn’t gotten the talk that she had been expecting. Closing the guesthouse door quietly behind her she went back to the bedroom finding Bea awake staring up at the ceiling, as soon as she heard Allie in the bedroom she lifted her head and smiled spotting the mugs in her hands.

“And where have you been?”

“I woke up early and I needed a coffee, your dad was already up and we were talking.”

“Oh god,” she groaned, “what did he say to you?”

“Nothing bad.”

“Talking about me as usual were ya?”

“More like your dad talked and I listened.”

Bea sat up accepting the coffee from Allie before moving over a little and patting the empty space on the bed waiting for Allie to sit down.

“So what did he say? Or do I have to ask him?”

“Well he said as long as I keep putting that smile on your face then everything’s good.”

“And?”

“Oh, well he said the guest house hasn’t been used for years,” she giggled.

Bea almost choked on her coffee.

“Babe, it’s not as bad as it sounds, oh and he’s gonna start breakfast in half an hour, fancy a shower?”

Bea rolled her eyes and giggled, “thought you’d never ask,” jumping out of bed she got to the en suit before Allie.

\------------------------------

The three of them sat and chatted for an hour after breakfast was finished, before Bea said that they needed to wrap the presents that they had bought the previous day. Allie wanted an excuse to stay up at the house but couldn’t think of one so just followed Bea back to guest house. Halfway through wrapping the presents Allie said she needed a drink and asked Bea if she wanted one, saying she wouldn’t mind another coffee Allie finally had an excuse, she wanted to ask about Beas birthday and she needed to get back to the jewellers to pick her present up and it was Christmas Eve, she also didn’t know if her dad did anything special for her birthday. Finding Micheal in the lounge she cleared her throat to get his attention.

“Anything wrong?”

“Yes and no, I’m going sound like such an idiot right about now but I need to get back to the jewellers in the shopping centre to pick Beas birthday present up and I can’t think of an excuse to not have her go with me.”

“That’s not a problem, I could go and pick it up for you, do you have the receipt?”

“Yer its in my pocket, do you do anything special for her birthday?”

“Depends on her really, but you have something in mind don’t ya?”

“We’ll sort of but it might be a little late to organise anything now.”

“Hey it’s never too late round here trust me.”

After handing over the receipt and telling him what she really wanted to do he was more than happy to help, saying he was going to call Andrew and get him to help out, as he said, “nothing was too much trouble for his baby girl.”

Getting the coffee that she had supposed to have gone for she went back to guest house.

“Been talking to dad again I see?”

“What makes you say that?”

“Oh nothing much, except it didn’t take twenty five minutes to pour a coffee the last time I did it.”

“Ok ya got me.”

They finished wrapping the presents then decided to just lounge around the guest house, Bea telling Allie that Christmas Day in her dads house was manic and they would hardly get a minute to themselves the next day. Also filling Allie in on the fact that the day after being her birthday her dads sister always came round for lunch, and that usually her cousins came with her with their families and that could end up getting pretty messy. Allie started getting worried again at the mention of more family members that she hadn’t met but Bea reassured her that they were all much the same as her dad and her brother and they would love her just like they did. But that wasn’t really helping because Allie didn’t know if they were even aware of their relationship, something Bea actually found that she couldn’t answer at that moment because she had forgot to ask her dad if he had told them.

When Debbie arrived back at the house her gramps had told her that he needed her to distract her mum for a while because he needed to get Allie alone for a few minutes, that made no sense to Debbie until he said he needed to pass her mum’s birthday present on to her. Debbie ran down to the guest house knocking on the door loudly hearing Bea telling her the door was open, she had almost run in and threw herself down in the sofa next to Allie.

“What have you been up to?”

“What do you mean? I was at uncle Andrews, I always stay over for one night while we’re here.”

“Yes you do, but usually after Christmas.”

“I can’t have a change this year?”

“Gramps has ordered a Chinese for dinner, and I need to show you something mum so can you come up to my room?”

“Right now?”

“Well that would be preferable if you don’t mind that is.”

Bea shook her head and got up asking Allie if she would be ok on her own for a bit, of course she said she would be, she was just hoping that Michael had managed to pick Beas birthday present up. She got her answer five minutes later when Michael knocked softly on the door before opening it.

“I wasn’t sure Debbie would distract her, here you go, hope you can hide it from her.”

“I hope so to.”

“And the other thing we talked about, it’s all in hand,” he said with a wink before leaving her to hide the present, only making it back to the house a couple of minutes before Debbie and Bea walked down the stairs.

“You should go and get Allie, dinner should be here soon.”

Returning to the house just as Michael had gone to the door to get the food. Sitting in the kitchen Bea decided that she was going to ask her dad if he had told her aunt about her and Allie, after telling her that he had mentioned it, and yes he made sure she understood so there would be misunderstandings about who Allie was, Bea was relieved. Excusing themselves Bea and Allie went back to the guest house to shower after Debbie reminded her mum that as it was Christmas Eve it was PJ’s and popcorn in front of the tv watching Christmas movies, something her and her dad had done since Debbie was little and she still wanted to do the same thing even now. Bea joked that she was surprised she still didn’t want to leave a carrot out for Rudolf which Debbie didn’t find funny. When they had got back to the house Debbie had already chosen a movie and was curled up on one of the sofas with a massive bowl of popcorn at the side of her, after complaining that it took them too long to shower, they had just looked at each other and giggled, leaving a red faced Debbie telling them that that was still too much information to which a Bea had just shrugged her shoulders before sitting on the other sofa and pulling Allie into her lap cuddling up to each other and getting comfortable. Bea finally got to choose a movie but only because Debbie wanted more popcorn and had gone to the kitchen, not impressed when she came back finding they were watching ‘Home Alone’, Bea telling Allie that Kevin reminded her of a much younger Debbie, Allie had laughed and her dad had agreed. It was gone midnight before they all went to bed, crawling into bed and cuddling up together with whispered good nights and I love you’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since its Wednesday again tomorrow and my least favourite day of the week I am starting the next chapter now, gives me more time to work on it, and I'll need some time to write it because it's Christmas Day coming next.


	61. Chapter 61

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update, it seems that my brain has turned to mush over the last 3 days and I've been struggling to write. Still not sure I'm completely happy with this chapter at all but I think I've kept you waiting long enough.

Bea opened her eyes nerves kicking in straight away, “fuck,” she thought. It was too late to change her mind about the gift she had bought for Allie, taking a deep breath she looked to her side just as Allie fluttered her eyes open instantly smiling at Bea when saw she was awake. Nuzzling her face into her neck and closing her eyes for a few seconds, Allie felt her own nerves kicking in and she had to wait hours to give her her gift. With a sigh she pulled away from her neck picking her head up she rested it on Beas chest.

“Merry Christmas babe,” Allie whispered.

“Meri Kirihimete,” Bea breathed.

Allie thought she hadn’t heard her correctly, removing her head from her chest she sat up resting on her elbows.

“What did you just say?”

“Meri Kirihimete, it means Merry Christmas.”

“Your full of surprises aren’t ya?”

“Not really, I lived here for years, I just picked it up.”

Looking at the time Allie groaned,

“Are we acting like kids? Why are we awake so early?”

“I have no idea, but let’s just stay where we are until Deb comes banging on the door.”

“Now that I like the sound of.”

Allie lay back down both of then turning to face each other and slowly becoming a mass of tangled arms and legs, not really speaking to each other, they didn’t need to speak to each other they just lay there looking into each other’s eyes. They had both thought that it was impossible to have a conversation without words, laughed when they had heard the expression used in the past but together they knew what it meant. About forty five minutes later they were suddenly disturbed by the loudest knocking on the door.

“Don’t need to ask who that is do you?” Bea laughed.

“Not really, I’m guessing we should let her in.”

Bea nodded, untangling themselves from each other they threw the covers off and both got out of bed heading for the door, not that they were going to need to open it soon if Debbie didn’t stop with the banging. Bea flung the door open to the surprise of Debbie who was expecting to be banging on the door for at least another five minutes.

“You could have just come in Deb it wasn’t locked.”

  
“Merry Christmas,” Debbie half shouted. “Now come on gramps is making breakfast.”

Debbie took off back up the path leaving the pair to just laugh before leaving the guest house and making their way to the house and the kitchen finding Michael cooking a breakfast of blueberry pancakes, half turning as they entered the kitchen he wished them both “Merry Christmas” before returning his full attention to the pancakes. Bea poured them both a coffee and the sat at the kitchen table. Allie couldn’t help the tear that fell from her eye as she looked around the kitchen, she couldn’t remember what a real Christmas had felt like, she had been ignored mostly as a child, breakfast was no big deal in their house if they got any at all. Looking round the kitchen again Debbie making a tropical fruit salad, Michael cooking pancakes and Bea sat beside her it didn’t feel real until she felt Bea take her hand in hers and gently squeeze it before wiping the tear away with her thumb, looking into her eyes she saw nothing but love there, and right then all her nerves about Beas present suddenly fell away.

After breakfast they had all showered and dressed and Bea had told her dad that her and Allie were going for a walk, there was a park close to the house that Bea used to spend a lot of time at over the holidays when Debbie was younger and she knew it was always almost empty on Christmas morning except for a few dog walkers. They walked hand in hand for a while before stopping to sit on a bench,

“Allie, are you ok?”

“I’m more than ok, I’m with you what more could I ask for?”

“It’s just…..before breakfast, you were upset, if your not up to spending the whole day with my crazy lot we can stay in the guest house, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind too much.”

“It’s not that……..Christmas in our house was truly nothing, we were lucky if they bothered to give us cereal for breakfast, me and Alex were lucky really, my grandad would pick us up and we’d spend two days with them while mum and dad did whatever it was they did, being here just didn’t feel real somehow.”

“Are you gonna call Alex later?”

“Yes I am, still a bit early right now though given the time difference.”

They took a slow walk back to the house eventually finding Debbie and Michael out back on the patio area setting everything up for lunch, they had already put out the table and chairs and Debbie was hanging some lights between the few trees that surrounded it. Debbie spotted them first,

“Mum can we put the clocks forward a couple of hours?”

“Your still as impatient as you were when you were five Deb.”

After finishing up outside they had all gone to the kitchen to get the food sorted out for lunch, her dad always made a big deal out of Christmas Day and on a few occasions had had every member of the extended family over, over the years that had fizzled out keeping it more to just his closest family. Once all the preparations were complete they retired to the lounge waiting for Andrew and his family to arrive, they weren’t waiting long when they heard Jack and Josh running into the house, racing into the lounge they both jumped onto the sofa Bea and Allie were sitting on.

“Merry Christmas,” they both said in unison.

Andrew and Jessica sat on the sofa with Debbie, wishing everyone a merry Christmas, the boys eyeing the bag of presents that their dad had placed beside the sofa. Bea nudged Allie and they both got up to go and get the presents that they had left in the guest house. As soon as they had both left Debbie shot up from the sofa and ran upstairs, getting back to the lounge long before her mum and Allie returned. Returning to the house they were both nervous about the gifts they had got each other. Michael told the boys to get the presents that were under the tree and pass them out, giving them strict instructions not to start opening their own before they had given them all out. They protested a little but knew that it would take longer to get what they were most interested in if they kept it up. They handed out the presents, slightly confused when there was nothing for Bea or Allie under the tree but said nothing about it being eager to open their own presents. The boys were more than happy when they opened their presents three computer games each, of course they instantly wanted to go home so they could play them and grumbled when Jessica had said they had plenty of time to play them another day. Debbie only had an envelope to open, which she thought was strange and totally out of character for her gramps until she opened it revealing a cheque for $1000.

“Gramps I…I cant accept this much.”

“You can and you will, I had no idea what to get you, your not a little girl anymore and I know you will make good use of it.”

Jumping off the sofa in his direction she flung her arms round his neck whispering a “thank you,” in his ear, in return he patted her on the back whispering back, “your more than welcome.”

Andrew and Jessica also had an envelope containing concert tickets and the paperwork confirming a weekend hotel stay, they had known about the tickets but not the weekend in the hotel.

“Dad, you didn’t have to pay for the hotel as well.”

“No…no I didn’t, but I wanted to, it gives me a weekend with these two, so don’t argue.”

Turning to Bea and Allie, who were more concerned with each other at that moment to have noticed, he shook his head before speaking,

“You two might be wondering why there was nothing for you under the tree, the truth is I don’t get to see you often enough Bea, so when you get home you need to work out when’s best for you both to come back, and when you’ve worked it out I’m paying for your flights, not much of a present I know, but I want to spend more time with you, both of you.”

Bea looked at Allie then looked back at her dad and just mouthed a “thank you” to him and he smiled.

Debbie started to get impatient and said it was her turn to give her presents out, passing them out to everyone but her mum and Allie, waiting until everyone had opened their gifts she got up from the sofa and getting the boys to move over she sat down next to them handing them both a box each, when they opened them they were both a little taken aback to find that they had got matching bracelets, Bea was just about to speak when Debbie shook her head, gesturing to her uncle he passed her a box.

“This is for both of you.”

Passing the box to Allie Bea telling her to open it, finding a small photograph album inside, looking through it they found that it was full of pictures Debbie had taken of them the day they had spent at the beach. Bea now understood why Debbie had wanted to go to Andrews before Christmas, Debbie hugged them both before returning to the other sofa.

Andrew and Jessica were next to hand out their gifts. $200 and pair of earrings for Debbie, a watch for Michael, handing over one of Bea and Allies gifts Andrew looked pretty happy with himself after grilling Debbie he had finally discovered her mum’s favourite perfume and Bea had already told him Allies, opening them they were both happy, Allie especially as hers had been out of stock in every shop she had gone to over in Australia on the run up to Christmas. Jessica handed over two more boxes and after opening them they both had a pandora entwined heart necklace, Bea had protested saying that the perfume was more than enough, Jessica had bit her lip not wanting to say anything but Andrew got up from his seat,

“Bea, no one could ever ask for a better sister than you, and Allie its as plain as the nose on my face that you make her happy, and yes I know we don’t buy each other anything special because we agreed years ago to make the kids happy, but this year, after so many years of seeing you unhappy we wanted to buy you, no, both of you something special, now can you just please stop with the complaints and protests and accept it for for what it is, a gift from a big brother who loves you and loves how happy Allie makes you?”

She couldn’t argue with him, Allie made her the happiest she had ever been, with the exception of the day Debbie was born, she’d thought she was fine being alone, didn’t let it bother her that everyone else seemed to be happy with their lot in life, but to her there was always something missing, of course she brushed it off until she met Allie, and as scared as she was over how she had started to feel she gave in to the feelings and she was so glad she had, she couldn’t imagine feeling any happier in that moment.

Handing over the gifts they had bought together for her family Beas nerves kicked into high gear, giving her brother and sister in law theirs first, a voucher for a couples pamper day at a local spa, she tried to shrug it off but it wasn’t working, hand her dad his a bottle of Glenmorangie 40 year old scotch did nothing to calm her fraying nerves and Debbie opening the bracelet they had chosen together and the scales of justice necklace that Allie had bought while they had been at the shopping centre just sent her head into a spin. Handing Allie her gift she truly thought she may pass out any second, what if she hated it was all she could think. Allie looked at her lovingly in the eye before she tore the wrapping paper off, opening the box she gasped, staring back at her was the most beautiful thing, except for Bea, she had ever seen in her life, taking it from its box she turned it over revealing the inscription on the back,

Allie  
My heart is your shelter  
My arms are your home  
Bea x

Try as she might she couldn’t stop the tears that had been building in her eyes from escaping as she threw her arms around her and nuzzled into her neck.

“Is it that bad?” Bea had to ask.

 

  
Shaking her head trying to stop the tears from flowing all she could manage to whisper was “I love it, I love you.”

Finally composing herself she picked up the box that had been sitting beside her on the sofa and handed it to Bea with a less than steady hand. Bea untied the ribbon and removed the lid, the first thing staining back at their were the plane tickets, a look of confusion on her face for a few seconds before she removed the entire contents and read the paper with details on it, she couldn’t believe it a seven day trip to Lord Howe Island staying at Capella Lodge and they were due to fly out on the 8th of January.

“Allie, this….this is too much.”

“Nothing is too much for you, and before you say it Franky is fine with you taking time off.”

“But, Will has just given you ten day off to come with us.”

“I know, and I’ve got another eight days off, it just happens to be the first week of the renovations at the bar and it’s only going to be partially open.”

Of course Debbie had to see what they were talking about grabbing the brochure that Bea was holding in her hand her eyes went wide.

“Don’t do things by halves do ya Allie?”

“Never, at least not when it comes to your mum.”

\------------------------------

They were all sat outside on the patio enjoying the sun while Andrew and Michael were cooking the food on the barbecue, ham steaks, shrimp and white bait fritters. When the food was almost cooked Bea, Allie and Jessica went back to the house to bring the rest of the food and the plates out.

“Mum, I love food but how can you forget the Christmas crackers?” Debbie complained.

“If you want them that bad you could always go and get them yourself.”

“Fine, ware my legs out,” Debbie grumbled as she made her way back to the house.

By the time she returned the food was ready and everyone but her was already fixing their plates,

“Oh that’s just charming, start without me.”

Passing out the crackers before she actually grabbed herself a plate and piled it high with food. They all sat and chatted while they ate, Allie loved it, all of it, she couldn’t believe how natural it felt being with Beas family, they had all been so nice to her, she hadn’t been sure that they would accept her being with Bea even when she had told her that they were fine with their relationship. Thinking back though she should have believed her, should have known that they would all be like her girlfriend. Debbie and Jessica cleared the plates away after they had all finished eating bringing the pavlova out along with more plates. Once that had been polished off, Debbie finishing the the last piece, Bea and Allie took everything in and made a start on washing the dishes even thought her dad had told them to leave them. As soon as they had finished they went to sit by the pool with the others, Debbie and the boys were splashing about in the pool.

“They look like their enjoying themselves babe.”

“They usually do……are you having a good day?”

“Mmmmm, the best, but everyday is good when you’re there.”

“Your just saying that.”

“Am not, you make everything better.”

They sat around the pool for a couple more hours before going into the house to collect their things and take them back to the guest house. Deciding that they were going to stay there for a while, Bea loved spending time with her family but she wanted some time alone with Allie even if was only ten minutes. Flopping down onto the sofa she pulled Allie down with her into her lap.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing, I just want you close.”

“Aren’t they going to miss us?”

“Who cares?”

They stayed like that for almost an hour before Debbie burst in through the door.

“Are you two hiding out in here?”

“No, just wanted some time on our own.”

“Right, well Uncle Andrews getting ready to leave so I said I’d come and tell ya both.”

Debbie left almost as quick as she had arrived, getting out of Beas lap Allie turned round grabbing her hands and pulled her to her feet. Leaving the guest house they made their way back to the house, walking into the lounge Jack and Josh ran across the room to them,

“Aunt Bea, Aunt Allie, thank you both for our presents, we’ll see you tomorrow.”

Allie looked at Bea and then at Andrew who just shrugged his shoulders and laughed, the boys hugged them both before running out of the house and waiting by the car, after they all said their goodbyes they left to go home. Michael asked if anyone was hungry, naturally Debbie said she was but she would just make herself a sandwich. Bea and Allie sat in the lounge with Michael,

“I hope the two monsters didn’t freak you out too much Allie,” Michael said.

“Err, well I wasn’t expecting it but no they didn’t.”

  
“They must really like you babe.”

“Yer they do, they both told me that this afternoon while we were in the pool,” Debbie announced with a mouth half full of her sandwich.

“Debbie, how many times do I have to tell you not to speak with your mouth full?”

“Come on mum, technically it was only half full.”

“Like that’s meant to make it any better.”

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry,” Debbie said rolling her eyes.

They stayed with Debbie and Michael for another hour before Bea said that they were going to go back to the guest house, they said goodnight to Debbie and Michael before Bea went to the kitchen to get a bottle of wine. Once back at the guest house Bea left Allie to lock up while she went to the en suite to run a bath making sure to add plenty of bubbles, leaving the water running she went back to the kitchen to get two glasses picking up the bottle on her way back,

“Are you coming?”

“It’s still early, do you really want to go to bed?”

“Who said anything about going to bed, I’m running a bath if your interested.”

“Now with an offer like that how can I possibly refuse?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I will be able to write the next chapter quicker than this one, well fingers crossed anyway.


	62. Chapter 62

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the weekend from hell then not feeling too well the last couple of days it's taken me way too long to get this chapter finished and I truly am not happy with how it reads, and some parts have been rewritten a couple of times, I probably should have just not tried to write at all.

The next morning arrived way too quickly for Allies liking, she hoped Bea wasn’t going to go mad when she gave her her birthday present, she already knew that she hated her spending her money on anyone but herself but Allie didn’t want anything, she bought the car and since then she hadn’t bought anything for herself, as far as she saw it she had everything that she needed, a girlfriend she loved and adored, somewhere to live that actually felt like a home, a feeling she hadn’t had since she had lived with her gran, friends who almost knew her whole life story and still stuck by her and a job that she enjoyed, the hours could be a pain when they kept her away from Bea but she had decided that she was going to accept Wills offer meaning her hours would stay pretty much the same unless she needed to cover for someone. Looking over at Bea who was still asleep she felt content, and it was the best feeling in the world. She had to get up, Michael had helped her plan most of the day, starting with breakfast in bed. Slowly moving Beas arm and wriggling out from under her leg she got out of bed going for a quick shower before walking up to the house finding Michael already sat at the kitchen table nursing a coffee.

“Good morning Allie, can you believe 37 years ago today my baby girl came into this world?”

“No, but I’m so glad that she did.”

“Me too, I miss her ya know, but it was my choice to move back home, I begged her to leave that dickhead and come with me but she wouldn’t, but ya know what, I’m glad she didn’t, she would never have met you if she had.”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe my gran was right if two people are meant to be together they will find each other one way or another.”

“Well I for one am so glad that you found each other, so breakfast, what’ll it be?”

“I’m not really sure.”

“You know ever year since she was little I’ve always made her waffles with strawberries and chocolate sauce.”

“Every year?”

“Pretty much, except for her 8th birthday, she was so ill that year, she slept for most of Christmas Day, not that her mum was bothered, God no, she was only concerned that she was handing out the best gifts for the family, never mind her little girl who was in bed missing out on everything, she didn’t open any of her presents for five days.”

“I guess waffles it is then, wouldn’t want to disappoint her.”

“I doubt very much you could ever do that.”

Michael made a start on breakfast, Allie cutting up the strawberries pouring the orange juice and coffee.

“Do you need a hand taking all this down to guest house?”

  
“I think I can manage, I’ll get her back up here as soon as I can.”

“There’s no rush, Deb won’t be up for an hour or two, and I’m just going to make a start on some lunch preparations that I need to do, oh and Jessica said her chef will be over at four, so you need to keep her out of the guest house for a couple of hours.”

“Pretty sure that won’t be too hard.”

Arriving back at the guest house she went straight back to the bedroom finding Bea still asleep, placing the tray on the bedside table she she lay back down on the bed lightly shaking Bea and whispering in her ear, getting no response she kissed her on the lips, still nothing, kissing her again and again until she finally felt her kiss her back.

“Allie, go back to sleep, it’s too early.”

“Na, can’t do that……happy birthday gorgeous.”

“That just means I’m getting old,” Bea groaned.

“No your not, now sit up I’ve got your breakfast here.”

Sitting up she looked over at he tray and smiled.

“You and dad getting your heads together I again I see.”

“When he said he made you this every year I didn’t see the point in changing that now,” Allie replied passing her the tray.

After finishing her breakfast Allie took the tray from her putting it back on the bedside table before ushering Bea into the bathroom for a shower. Not she had complained, she knew her dad would want to see her and knowing that they would have a house full a little later on she had to get ready. Allie retrieved the gift she had for her from where she had hidden it still hoping that she wasn’t going to go too mad at her when she gave it to her. It wasn’t over the top in Allies eyes, expensive yes, too flashy no, would Bea like it? She had half drooled over it when she saw the exact same thing back home, and it was tough if she didn’t, she couldn’t take it back. Hearing the bathroom door open Allie was dragged from her thoughts, their eyes locking the second Bea was back in the bedroom, she quickly dressed and sorted her hair out before sitting on the bed next to Allie.

“What’s got you looking so worried?”

“Oh, ya know…just this,” Allie managed to say only just above a whisper as she held the gift bag out.

“Allie, I didn’t need anything else.”

“You haven’t opened it yet, besides I can’t take it back.”

Pulling out the box that was contained within the bag she half guessed straight away what it was going to contain, looking at Allie she kissed her on the cheek before opening it finding the very same Tag Heuer Aquaracer Ion plated watch staring back at her that she had spotted back at home while they were Christmas shopping.

“How did you find the time to buy this before we left home?”

“I didn’t, I paid for it that day we were all at the shopping centre, but your dad went to pick it up for me.”

Beas face was full of confusion now.

“Why?”

“Take it out of the box then you might find out.”

Removing it from the box she turned it over finding an inscription on the back, ‘I knew from the moment I met you...A x’. Bea couldn’t say anything, with tears in her eyes she could only throw her arms around Allie and rest her head on her shoulder, Allie turning slightly so she could pull her closer to her. It took Bea a couple of minutes before she was able to actually say anything, raising her head from Allies shoulder she whispered in her ear, “I love you, but I really wish you wouldn’t waste all your money on me.”

Allie shook her head, “nothing I spend on you is ever a waste and I love you too, more than anything, more than I ever thought possible.”

\------------------------------

After an hour of Bea, Allie and Michael laughing and joking sat in the kitchen Debbie finally put in an appearance, dragging herself down the stairs and sitting at the table saying she was hungry. Michael got her her breakfast telling her it was a good thing that her mum hadn’t been as lazy as she was at her age, Debbie’s answer to that was to just stick her tongue out and laugh. It was amazing really how quickly she woke up fully as soon as there was food put in front of her and after half eating her food she spotted the watch that her mum was wearing, dropping her fork on the plate she grabbed her wrist to get a better look.

“Is that real?”

“No I found it in one of the Christmas crackers,” Allie laughed.

“Oh ya so NOT funny Allie.”

Shaking her head she picked her fork back up and continued eating her breakfast.

After finishing her breakfast Debbie went for a shower arriving back in the kitchen twenty minutes later dragging her mum and Allie out to sit by the pool, after they were all out of earshot Michael sent a text to Andrew letting him know that Bea was out of the way. Debbie made sure that she was sat closest to the house in the hope that she could keep her mum outside until lunch time, and if she did want something from the house she would volunteer to get it. It was always at the same on Beas birthday, a buffet lunch with everyone lounging around the house usually taking their plates to the lounge, usually Michael would cook dinner, whatever Bea decided she wanted but this year he hadn’t asked her what she wanted, knowing that Allie had wanted to do something special for her and he couldn’t refuse, just this once. An hour later Jessica arrived, Michael went out to help her bring the food in, Jessica part owning a small restaurant with her brother and sister meant she could always call in a favour from the chefs, this year she had called in two favours, the first covering most of their lunch. Setting out everything in the kitchen they both returned to the lounge to wait for everyone else to arrive, 45 minutes later Andrew and the boys arrived, the boys barrelling through the door just about to shout ‘Happy Birthday’ stopping in their tracks when Bea was nowhere to be seen, asking their mum why she wasn’t there, grumbling when they were told that they would have to wait a little longer, Andrew laughing because he knew they were really more interested in the food. 15 minutes later the front door opened again Michaels sister, Olivia, and his two nephews and their family’s walking in.

“Andrew would you let Bea know everyone is here?”

“Sure dad, are all three of them sat round the pool?”

“They were, doubt they will have moved, Debs on guard duty.”

Andrew laughed before heading out back to get them, Debbie running back inside as soon as she spotted Andrew.

“Come on you two you’re the only ones missing now.”

Bea got up, taking Allies hand and pulling her up, “come on, and don’t start getting worried again.”

Allie just nodded keeping tight hold of her hand while she followed her inside, of course she was nervous, not quite as bad as she had been before but nervous all the same. They walked into the lounge still hand in hand being greeted with a loud “Happy Birthday.”

“Can we just eat now?” Debbie asked.

Everyone made their way into the kitchen, Bea and Allie trailing behind letting everyone else get their food first.

“You ok?”

“I think so,” Allie replied as Bea squeezed her hand gently.

Walking into the kitchen Beas aunt made her way over to them, looking at Bea and then Allie with a smile on her face,

“So you must be the reason this one has a smile on her face, I’m Olivia, but call me Liv, Allie isn’t it?”

“Yes, pleased to meet you.”

Lunch went quite well, Allie relaxed more, she wasn’t used to having that many people around unless it was a weekend at the bar and then she didn’t have customers trying to make conversation with her, being asked by one of Beas cousins if her family minded that she wasn’t with them at Christmas had been difficult for her, although she had an easy answer, her parents were dead and her brother was with his wife’s family for a couple of days. Bea herself most of the time kept them from questioning her too much by being able to tell Allie stories about when her, Andrew and their cousins were younger, embarrassing them had kept the questions to a minimum, although they did get a few stories of their in causing Allie to laugh and Bea to blush. After a couple of hours there were only Andrew, Jessica and the boys still there, Bea had been glad when the others left, she loved them all but it always got a little too loud when her cousins were around. Bea had been a little confused when Debbie had suggested that her and Allie should go for a walk and even more confused when Allie had agreed straight away that they should almost dragging Bea out of the house by the hand. Walking over to the park where they had been the previous day Bea had to ask,

“What are they up to?”

“Nothing that I know of, why?”

“They obviously want me out of the way.”

“And why would you think that?”

“Debbie saying we should go for a walk and you agreeing kind of gives it away.”

“Really, you don’t think I agreed so I could just have you all to myself for a bit? That was pretty full on with that many people in the house.”

Bea still wasn’t buying it but chose not to say anymore about it, if she was honest she was glad to be out of the house for a while, just the two of them, choosing instead to ask Allie what she thought they should do over the next few days. A little over two hours later they got back to the house finding only Michael and Debbie there, Michael shot a wink over in Allies direction and she immediately made an excuse to go to the guest house, checking that everything was ready she lit the candles on the table, filled their wine glasses then returned to the house finding Bea watching tv with her dad and Debbie.

“Bea, can I drag you away with me for a minute?”

“Hmmm, course anything you need.”

Getting up from the sofa she followed Allie through the double doors, taking her hand in hers and walking towards the guest house. Stopping outside the door for a second Allie turned to face her,

“I have a confession, it was me that was up to something earlier.”

“Oh, so what are you up to?”

“I know you normally have dinner with your dad and Debbie, but I’m selfish and wanted to have you all to myself.”

Turning back to the door she opened it slowly pulling Bea inside with her.

“How?” Was all Bea could say.

“Well I had some help, your not angry with me are ya?”

Bea just shook her head, she was a little lost for words, no one had ever done anything like this for her, Allie pulled out a chair for her and Bea sat down, Allie got their food that had been kept warm in the oven, placing a plate down in front of Bea then getting her own and sitting down.

“I’m guessing Jessica was in on this.”

  
“Whatever makes you say that?”

“Because no one cooks a steak this good except for Marcus and he’s one of the chefs at her restaurant.”

“Ok, ya got me, but actually it was your dad that asked her.”

Reaching out over the table Bea took Allies hand in hers and gently squeezed it.

“Your so sneaky you know that right?”

“I just wanted to do something nice for you, it’s not my fault you were born right after Christmas.”

Bea just giggled, “its hardly mine either.”

They ate their meal, Bea telling Allie that the next couple of days they were going to be a little busy because Debbie had already made plans for the places she wanted to show Allie. Leaving the dishes until the morning at Allies insistence they took another bottle of wine and sat out on the deck for a couple of hours before going to bed.

 ------------------------------

The last few days in New Zealand were quite busy, Debbie dragging the pair of them to her favourite places, constantly telling Allie that they had to come back for longer next time, Christmas was not the time for showing her everything, Allie tried to point out that between her being at university and them having to work it might be difficult but Debbie had just brushed that off saying they would find the time.

On the day they were due to fly home Debbie had not wanted to get up, neither had she packed like Bea had asked her to the previous evening, resulting in them arguing and Bea storming out of the house going back to the guest house and even refusing to speak to Allie who had been finishing up packing the last of their things. Allie guessing that Debbie was being stubborn had left Bea laying on the bed taking herself up to the house to find out what was going on. Debbie was sitting in the kitchen nursing a coffee still mad at her mum.

“Deb shouldn’t you be dressed by now.”

“Oh that’s about right, mum sends you up here to have a go at me?”

“No, she isn’t speaking to me and I have no idea why.”

“That would be my fault then, sorry Allie, we kinda had an argument, I hate early flights as much as I hate going home.”

“Early? Our flights not until ten.”

“I know, I’ll go and apologise.”

Debbie drained her coffee cup then made her way down to the guest house finding her mum in the bedroom laying on the bed.

“Mum, I’m sorry, I did set my alarm honest, I turned it off and turned over.”

“Yer, but you know we have to get ready, you haven’t packed a thing, am I going to have to do it for you?”

“I’ll go and do it now……and mum, stop ignoring Allie, it wasn’t her fault we had a row.”

“Where is she?”

“In the kitchen last I saw her.”

Debbie left the guest house and went straight back to her room. Bea did one last check round the guest house before taking their cases up to the house, Allie and her dad sat in the kitchen drinking coffee and chatting. She dumped the bags in the lounge and went back to the kitchen to grab a coffee,

“Deb upstairs?”

“Yer, came back in mumbling about being an idiot and went straight upstairs,” Michael replied while looking between Bea and Allie, getting up from his seat he headed upstairs.

“I didn’t mean to ignore you, it’s just….Debbie knows how to wind me up sometimes and I took it out of you and I shouldn’t have….I should have just told what was up as soon as I came back.”

“It might have been nice if you told me what was wrong, Deb doesn’t really want to go home ya know.”

“She never does.” Bea sighed.

Twenty minutes later Debbie came back followed by Michael depositing her bag with Bea and Allies in the lounge.

“I’m sorry for acting like a brat.”

“It happens every year when we have to go home, I know you love it here but we have to go home Deb…. I better call Franky before we leave, remind her what time we should land.”

\------------------------------

Allie couldn’t get her head round the time change when they landed, but she was glad that it meant they actually had an extra two hours instead of two less of that day. Franky picked them up from the airport, Allie has seen Franky wink at Bea but thought no more about it until after they got home, walking into the house the tree lights were on and there were presents under it.

“Babe, I am right in thinking there was nothing under the tree when we left aren’t I?”

“What, you don’t believe in Santa anymore?”

“Santa or Franky?”

  
“Does it really matter?”

“It does to me if there’s no laptop in that pile,” Debbie giggled.

What was under the tree was slowly forgotten as they tried to get back into their normal routine, although thankfully that didn’t include work for the time being and it wasn’t until later on in the evening that Debbie had decided she couldn’t wait any longer to find out if she had in fact got what she had pestered her mum for for months. Bea had come clean after she had opened it that the colour choice had actually been Allies to Debbie’s relief as she said she had been expecting a rather boring space grey. Allie had protested loudly before opening her leathers and helmet that she didn’t want anything else, after opening them though she went rather quiet, Debbie saying she was either scared of getting on the bike or she just couldn’t get the idea of being on the bike with her arms wrapped round her mum out of her head, earning her a cushion being thrown at her by Allie. Debbie had been the first to give in and go to bed followed not long after by Bea and Allie. And as Bea had pointed out after pulling Allie in as close as she could, there really was nothing like being back in their own bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping now that I can get back into writing at my usual pace now, but I'm not holding my breath just in case.


	63. Chapter 63

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's New Year's Eve and Allie has to go back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again I apologise for my lack of updates, it really has been a crappy week for me and my head has been somewhere else, try as I might I just haven't been able to write more than a few lines at a time before my train of thought has wondered off, although I woke up this morning and finally managed to get my head down and concentrate enough to finish this chapter, finally. And I would like to say thank you to all of you who left comments on the last chapter, I have read them all I just haven't replied, you all keep me motivated to keep writing, and I promise I won't leave this as an unfinished work, I may have to slow down sometimes but I will always continue until I'm done.

Allie lay in bed wide awake and had been so for the last hour not needing to get up yet and certainly not wanting to, having Bea laying cuddled up next to her, her head in the crook of her neck soft breath against her skin was the best feeling in the world, something she would never tire of and something she was sure she didn’t ever want to have to live without. If she could wake up like this for the next sixty years that still wouldn’t be long enough for her, an eternity with Bea would never be long enough as far as she was concerned.

She was due back at work that evening, being New Year’s Eve the bar would be open until 1am and Will had called her the previous day to arrange for her shift to start at 6pm, something she was a little relieved about, the only thing he hadn’t actually told her was that she would only be working until 11pm as he had called Liz while they were still away arranging for everyone to arrive at the bar around 10pm. Liz had called Bea the day after they got home to let her in on his plan and she had decided that as she had Alex’s number she would phone him and invite them if they had no other plans.

Eventually getting out of bed, deciding to let Bea sleep a little longer, she used the bathroom before going to make coffee, Debbie following her a couple of minutes later as usual complaining that she was starving, before going to the fridge to liberate it of the bacon it contained. Allie had sat at the table with a mug of coffee sitting in front of her lost in her own thoughts about their upcoming holiday, almost not hearing Debbie speak to her,

“Bacon sandwich?......Allie!”

“Hmmmm……sorry Deb did you want something?”

“Do you want a bacon sandwich?”

“If your having one I will, thank you.”

Slipping back into her own thoughts, in nine days they would be going away again, thankfully this time just the two of them, a full week, no one around that they knew, when Allie had first seen the brochure that Will had she knew she wanted to take Bea there, the place was stunning, Will had shown her some of the photographs he and Rose had taken and now it was getting closer she was getting really excited. Debbie put a plate down in front of her giving her a slight nudge pulling her from her thoughts, she looked over at Debbie and smiled just as Bea walked into the kitchen pouring herself a coffee and taking a seat across from Allie before taking half of her bacon sandwich from the plate.

“Hey, get your own,” Allie giggled while she tried slapping her hand away.

“I’m sure Deb will make you another one, won’t you Deb?”

“Yer sure, you know I’m using all the bacon now right, I’m already starving.”

\-------------------------------

Allie arrived at the bar at five thirty, she had wanted to arrive early because she needed to have a word with Will, he wanted her answer today and she was pretty excited and a little nervous to tell him that she was accepting the position as bar manager. Entering the bar through the side door so she could go straight to the office she bumped straight into Will as he was leaving the office. After asking how Christmas had been and how Bea had taken her surprise Allie finally got to the reason she wanted to speak to him, telling him that she was going to take the job.

“Fantastic, and what better day to be able to celebrate?”

“I guess.”

“Hey, I know you would much rather be at home or out with your friends but you never know, some of them might pop in.”

“Oh hey I don’t mind working tonight, it should be pretty busy so it’s not like I’d have any time to chat if anyone does come in.”

Leaving the office they both headed back towards the bar, it was already getting quite busy in the main part of he bar, the far end of the bar was relatively quiet with just a few of the regulars milling around, strangely Allie hadn’t actually noticed that the far end of the bar was mainly blocked off with tables. Shane was happy to see Allie back, they managed to chat in between serving customers filling her in how packed the bar had been on Christmas Eve and wanting to hear everything about how Christmas had gone for her. Just before 10pm Franky, Bridget and Liz arrived making their way to the far end of the bar before Allie even spotted them. Maxine and Boomer arrived shortly after also slipping in past Allie unnoticed. Bea and Debbie were running late mainly because Bea couldn’t decide what to wear. As soon as they arrived Bea tried to get to the bar but the there were far too many bodies in the way so followed Debbie over to the others. Allie had spotted her almost as soon as she was halfway through the door knowing there was no way she was going to be getting close to her before her break and she had just under an hour to wait for that.

Will had called in the part time staff they had to help out for the night and he was leaving the three of them and Linda to handle the main bar ushering Shane and Allie off to other end of the bar, Allie guessed he was doing that because that was where Bea had just gone, surprised to find everyone else there as well, she couldn’t remember seeing any of them but as packed as the bar was she knew that wasn’t a surprise really. She gravitated instantly to the very end of the bar where Bea was sitting,

“Do we know who’s idea this was?”Allie asked with a huge smile.

“So I’ve been told it’s all down to Will, but I have a surprise for you later.”

“Really, I think my best surprise is sitting right in front of me, I didn’t think I was going to see you for the rest of the night.”

“Oi, Blondie bout time you started pouring shots ain’t it?” Boomer shouted over from where she was sitting.

Allie shook her head before turning round to get the glasses, turning back towards the bar she saw Kaz walking towards her.

“Did ya have a good Christmas kiddo?”

“Good, it was fantastic, but I don’t have time to tell you about it right now.”

“That’s fine, I’m just glad you enjoyed it.”

Allie finished pouring the shots, putting them on a tray just as Boomer got to the bar, then got Kaz a beer. Shane and Will were having a conversation and as Allie looked around she noticed that the few regulars who had been in earlier had gone and it was just their friends and Kaz that were there now.

Forty minutes later Will walked over to Allie linking his arm with hers and walked her round to the other side of the bar, stopping beside Bea.

“I believe you should be on this side of the bar for the rest of the night.”

“But I’m supposed to be working until we close,” Allie tried to protest.

“No arguments Allie.”

Will took off back round the bar turning the music up before placing a round of shots, bottles of beer on the bar and a large glass of wine on the bar.

“Ladies, this rounds on me.”

An already little worse for ware Franky walked up to the bar, “you’re a star ya know that Will, a fucking star.” Taking a bottle and the glass of wine with her as she walked back over to Bridget. Allie had dragged Bea away from the bar and they were sitting with Liz and Maxine, Debbie was laughing with Boomer at something on her phone and Kaz was sat at the bar chatting to Will. Liz looked behind Bea to see Alex and Vicky walking in nodding her head at her, walking straight up behind Allie Alex rested his hands on her shoulders making her jump a little,

“How did my favourite little sister enjoy her Christmas?”

Jumping up from her seat she gave him a hug and then Vicky,

“It was great, really great….but how did you know about all of this?”

“Oh ya know, Bea gave me a call and invited us over, we were only going out to dinner then going on to a bar after so we decided that it was better idea to come here.”

“Seems I have an extremely sneaky girlfriend.” Allie giggled before sitting back down and squeezing Beas knee.

Kaz was confused, she had never seen Alex before and Allie had never really told her anything about him, she knew she had a brother and after seeing them together she couldn’t deny the resemblance, she was still wary of speaking to Allie, not that they had had any cross words lately and Allie had been really pleasant when she first arrived, as hard as it was she had to admit to herself that at times she was a little jealous of Bea, she had been able to give Allie the support that she needed, the one thing she had tried so hard to give her and failed. She watched them from where she was still sitting for a while, she felt out of place, she wasn’t even sure why Will had invited her or why she had agreed to be there, turning her attention away from them she finished the rest of her beer deciding that as soon as it was midnight she would slip away and go home.

Bea left the table heading for the bar to get more drinks coming to a stop next to Kaz,

“You don’t have to sit here by yourself.”

Kaz slowly turned her head to look at Bea,

“Honestly I don’t even know why I’m here, Will invited me and it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Come over and join us, I’m sure Allie would love you to meet her brother.”

“I don’t know about that Bea, I’ve said some pretty horrible things to her about forgetting her family in the past, and I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

Allie saw Bea talking to Kaz, they both looked relaxed enough so she knew they weren’t getting into anything heated, excusing herself from the table she headed over to them, the things Kaz had said to her about her family still hurt, and the things she had said about Bea in the past were even more raw but it was almost a new year and in her mind time to put the events of the last few months to bed and move on, she had everything that she had ever wanted now and didn’t intend to let the past keep playing on her mind for any longer than was necessary. Glancing at the time she noticed that it was only twenty minutes to midnight and she wanted to finally clear the air properly with Kaz, and since Bea was already talking to her she decided that now was the best time.

Bea felt Allies closing proximity without needing to turn around, and that still felt strange, she wasn’t quite able to wrap her head around how she always knew she was there, how she could tell that Allie was looking at her from across a room, sometimes she was quite certain that she knew when she was thinking about her when they were apart and that made her laugh at herself. Wrapping her arms around Beas waist and resting her chin on her shoulder Allie asked what was taking so long.

“Just having a chat with Kaz, I’m sure you didn’t miss me already.”

“I always miss you……but you already know that.”

“Is that right?”

“I actually thought that I need to clear the air properly…with Kaz.”

Kaz looked at Allie her eyebrows raised, she knew it was only a matter of time before she was going to say something and she hadn’t been expecting it to happen tonight. Allie let go of Bea as she turned around leaning against the bar, Kaz knew she had to face whatever was coming so turned around on the stool she was sitting on to face Allie.

“Um…well….yer…..so you’ve said some pretty hurtful things to me Kaz, you said I should forget about my family because they were in the past, and although I never thought I would ever see my brother again that hurt, but as you can see for yourself I now have my brother back in my life and I don’t intend to fuck that up. Worse than anything you could ever say about my family you attacked Bea, verbally is just as bad as physically, and believe me when I say that if you ever do that again I will walk away from you completely just as soon as I've finished punching you in the face again, you were there for me when I need help, fuck you probably saved my life and I can never repay what you did for me, my stupidity and inability to cope with how I felt made me run but you did something that changed my life, you are the reason I have the life I have now, you sent Bea crashing into my life and I have to thank you for that, so…I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m willing to forget all the crap if you are and move on, start over with a clean slate if that’s what you want, the final decision is yours.”

Kaz didn’t know what to say as she watched Allie turn around and walk back to the table, looking at Bea as she turned back to bar and picked up the drinks before taking a couple of steps back towards the table Bea looked over her shoulder at Kaz,

“You know she’s right, and we both know she means it, you can either stay there or you can come and sit with us.”

Kaz nodded slipping off the stool before ordering another beer from Shane, taking a deep breath she walked over to where they were sitting, pulling up a chair she sat down, Allie just smiled at her and nodded before introducing her to Alex.


	64. Chapter 64

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little later than I expected to post it and that is completely my fault, Lord Howe Island does exist as does Capella Lodge and I had meant to do the research I needed to do last week but I completely forgot to do it.

The next week had passed relatively quietly, Debbie had returned to Sydney, Allie was working what were now her permanent hours 10am till 5pm and had begun training Shane up as assistant bar manager, Allie still had some training of her own to do with Will but he had said that they would start that after she returned from their holiday, and given that the bar would be already under renovation by then it wouldn’t be busy. They were advertising for another assistant bar manager, Will had told her that he wasn’t going to be interviewing anyone before she returned as she would be the one working more closely with them than he would and valued her opinion. Work had already started in the empty lot next to the bar and Will was quite happy with the pace the building was going at.

Bea had returned to work and had taken great pleasure in supervising Franky’s removal of the Christmas decorations she had put up in the office, no amount of begging had gotten Franky any help from Bea or Liz, as Bea pointed out only Franky wanted to put them up so she would be on her own taking them down. Maxine had turned up at the office on Friday morning to let Bea know that Doreen had handed in her notice, she was moving to Perth and wouldn’t be back. Even though Bea had left the salon years ago Maxine was still keen for Bea to help her out finding someone new, agreeing that she would help in the interviews and would spend some time at the salon when they found someone who was at least worth a trial.

Sunday finally arrived and all they had left to do was finish packing, most of it had been done by Allie already because she said that when it came to packing Bea needed a lot of practice, Bea had protested saying that all she really needed was Allie to stop distracting her because she’d never had a problem packing before Allie came along. They had no need to do any shopping that week so Bea had suggested that they go out for lunch which Allie had agreed to until she saw Bea walking downstairs in her leathers, she tried desperately to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat but it wasn’t working and all she could do was stare at Bea.

“Allie are you ok?”

“Errr, yer….I’m fine….I think,” she replied very unconvincingly.

“So, I figured we could go out on the bike…..you gonna get changed or do ya need some help?”

After standing there open mouthed for a few more seconds she took off up the stairs reaching the bedroom she quickly got changed into her own leathers and ran back downstairs finding the front door open, walking outside she found Bea had already got the bike out of the garage and was sitting on it waiting for her.

“Are you going to close the door so we can get out of here?”

Allie still couldn’t find her voice, she didn’t think it was possible for Bea to look any hotter than she normally did but seeing her in leathers was really just too much, it sent her head into a spin, her knees weak and she seemed to completely lose her ability to speak, nodding her head she turned round to close the door trying to pull herself together as she did so. Walking over to the bike Bea held her helmet out to her.

“Jump on, I promise I won’t go too fast.”

Allie just nodded taking the helmet from her and putting it on before climbing on the bike behind Bea and wrapping her arms around her waist.

“You need to hold on tighter than that, don’t want you falling off.” Bea threw back over her shoulder.

Bea put her own helmet on before starting the bike and kicking up the stand, she drove out of the drive slowly, she had already decided where they were going for lunch but Allie had never been on the bike before and as much as Bea had once loved to get out on the open road and ride like the wind she didn’t want to scare Allie, she loved the feel of having her so close with her arms wrapped tightly around her, scaring her was not an option if she wanted her to agree to going out on the bike with her again. After an hour Bea pulled off the the main road down a small side road that turned into more of a dirt track the further on she went lined by trees but opening out to a small secluded carpark on the left and a small diner on the right. Bea parked in the carpark, kicking down the stand and removing her helmet. Allie glanced around before removing her helmet, seeing a few other bikes parked up she got off the bike followed by Bea.

“Bit out of the way here isn’t it?”

“That’s why I like it, it’s usually quiet here because most people don’t know this place even exists.”

“Except for bikers ya mean?”

“It’s popular with bikers yes, but it’s popular with hikers as well.”

Walking into the diner hand in hand Bea spotted a couple of people that she knew from when she rode a lot nodding to them before they went to a table at the back of the diner by the window. Before the waitress approached their table Bea had already raved about the burgers there and Allie hadn’t needed any more convincing than her recommendation to agree on a burger and fries with a Coke. The waitress took their order winking at Bea as she was about to walk away which Allie saw and frowned at her before turning her attention back to her girlfriend who’s gaze had hardly left her since they had sat down,

“Do you know her?”

“Not really, she has worked here for years though.”

“Hmmm, well I don’t think I like her winking at you like that.”

“What? She did not!”

“Oh yer she did and I didn’t like it.”

“Is my Alliecat jealous?”

Reaching over the table Bea took her hand in hers entwining their fingers,

“Sweetheart you don’t have to worry about her or anyone else for that matter because the only person I am ever going to notice is sat right here in front of me.”

“I still don’t like it though,” Allie grumbled causing Bea to giggle.

The waitress brought their food and retreated faster than she had arrived when Allie had snapped her eyes in her direction leaving Bea truly convinced that if looks could kill the owner would be looking for a new waitress. Finishing their lunch Allie said that they really should head home and Bea had agreed because she needed to catch up with Franky before the day was over, they did have a couple of active cases and she just wanted to run a few things past her before they left the next morning, it was going to be an early start as their first flight was at 10am, this time Liz had offered to take them to the airport after Franky had complained about having to get up early to drop them off last time. Once they had arrived home Bea had taken off on the bike to see Franky leaving Allie at home to finish their packing.

\-------------------------------

The alarm going off the next morning at 4:30am was really not welcomed at all by either of them, they had gone to bed early but neither of them had found getting to sleep easy so had lay awake talking until well turned midnight. Bea dragged her self out of bed saying that if she was going to get to the airport she needed coffee and Allie had agreed as she headed for a shower, Bea really did need coffee first thing in the morning and she knew it and this morning she needed it more than ever. They had agreed the night before that they were going to grab breakfast at the airport while they were waiting for their flight. Allie had showered in double quick time and had almost finished getting ready before Bea returned coffee in hand. She handed Allie a coffee and went to the bathroom taking her coffee with her, by 7am they were both ready, Allie was checking that they had everything and Bea was on her third coffee of the morning after taking their cases downstairs. A short while later Liz arrived and Bea took their cases out to her car leaving Allie with their hand luggage and to lock up.

Traffic was light and they made it to Tullamarine Airport with plenty of time to spare, Liz walked into the airport with them wanting to be able to see them off properly, the three of them chatted for a while until their check in desk opened they said goodbye to Liz, Bea being reminded by Liz to text her as soon as they arrived at their final destination, it never mattered where Bea was off to Liz always expected a text just so she wouldn’t worry about her. After checking in and going through the security checks they went to get something to eat and another coffee. Allie was getting impatient while they were waiting and Bea had asked her if she had booked the holiday more for herself, Allie had just shook her head saying that she just couldn’t wait to get there so they were on their own.  
They landed at Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney at 11:25am and after a 50 minute layover they were finally on their way again landing at 2:15pm at Lord Howe Island Airport.

Finally arriving at Capella Lodge they checked in and were shown to their suite, Bea gasped when she saw their room, it had a beach house feel to it and a high ceiling along with a dark wood timber floor. They had a king sized bed and the room also had an integrated lounge area, Allie walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around her waist,

“What do you think?”

“It…it’s….amazing!”

“Not as amazing as you are,” Allie breathed before moving her arms from her and taking her by the hand and leading her over to the ensuite.

The ensuite was dressed top to bottom in basalt and had an oversized shower with dual heads, over head there there was a skylight,

“Think we can make good use of that shower don’t you babe?” Allie giggled.

“Maybe later, I need to get changed.”

Leaving the ensuite they both got changed into shorts and t shirts before going out onto their private deck, finding a massive daybed and two sun loungers. It really was a spectacular sight, overlooking lovers bay, standing at the foot of Mount Gower and Mount Lidgbird and a stunning turquoise lagoon stretching out as far as they could see. They both decided that they didn’t want to do anything, they were both rather tired from their lack of sleep the previous night and from the journey so decided to relax on the sun loungers for the rest of the afternoon, but not before Allie got her phone out snapping a selfie of them with their backs to the view that stretched out behind them and then sent the picture to Debbie and Liz letting them both know they had arrived safely because Bea had left her phone inside. Laying on the sun loungers they both fell asleep for a couple of hours.

Allie was the first to wake up, it was still really warm so the light breeze was more than welcome and she lay there for a while longer watching Bea sleep and listening to the kentia palms gently dancing in the breeze, a rumble from her stomach made the decision to wake Bea up for her, slipping onto the sun lounger Bea was on she planted gently kisses on her face until she opened her eyes.

“What time is it?”

“Dinner time, I’m starving.”

“Your starting to sound like Deb you do know that right?”

“Maybe, but we need to eat.”

After getting changed they made their way over to the Lodge restaurant, the restaurant like their room was decorated in a beach house style. After they were shown to a table they spent some time looking over the menu and taking in the breathtaking view of the lagoon and the mountains. Neither of them were in the mood for a starter so chose the wine they both wanted and a simple pasta dish for their main course, the waiter brought their wine and they sat talking about nothing in particular until their food arrived. The food was as delicious as Allie had expected it would be as everything on the menu there was mainly all locally sourced. Bea wasn’t really bothered about dessert but Allie convinced her to have ice cream after she said she wasn’t getting any of hers if she didn’t order something. After their meal was over they went to the bar, both ordering another glass of wine and retreating to Gowers Terrace with their drinks to watch the sun set.

After a couple more drinks Bea yawned causing Allie to giggle,

“I think we should go to bed.”

“I’m not that tired, it’s just so peaceful here.”

“I know, but we really should get some more sleep, I was thinking that we could order a picnic for lunch tomorrow and spend some time on the beach.”

“That sounds good, but you do know that since you got me here you’re going to have to do some walking.”

  
“I know, and as much as I’m not a huge fan of walking everywhere I will just for you if you come to bed.”

Bea yawned again so really couldn’t argue, finishing their drinks they wondered back to their suite, eventually sliding into bed together and falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter may take me a couple of days to finish as I need to finish my research I really don't want to make too many mistakes with their holiday, and also it's Wednesday again tomorrow so I'll be busy again!


	65. Chapter 65

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little later posting this chapter than I planned to be, Wednesday was a little busier for me than I expected leaving me barely no time at all to write.
> 
> Just a little warning, you might not want to read the beginning of this chapter in public. I have to admit I do find it difficult to write the more intimate parts of this story and I'm guessing you've all noticed that I generally try not to write them but I will throw them in from time to time.

They both woke up at almost the exact time the next morning, tangled together barley under the covers, the warm gentle morning breeze drifting in through the open windows lightly washing over their exposed skin,

“Morning gorgeous, sleep well?” Allie breathed.

“Hmmm, morning beautiful, I slept like a baby, it’s so peaceful here.”

“It’s a shame we can’t stay here forever.”

“It doesn’t matter where we wake up as long as we’re together.”

“Mmmm, I think we need to try that shower out, TOGETHER, don’t you?”

“In a bit, I want to stay here laying with you a little longer.”

“I’m not going to argue with that babe.”

After half an hour or so of kissing and caressing each other’s bodies Allie dragged Bea out of bed and to the ensuite before turning on the shower,

“Get that sexy arse of yours in this shower with me now,” Allie said a demanding tone in her voice.

Looking into Allies eyes she knew any form of protest would be in vein so she didn’t even bother she just allowed Allie to take her by the hand and drag her into the shower, pinning her against the wall before planting the most passionate kiss on her lips that they had ever shared together until now. Bea slowly brought one arm around Allies waist and the other found its way to the back of her neck pulling her in and deepening the kiss, breaking apart only when the need to breath became more overbearing than the need to keep kissing.

Bea was in no mood now to take things slowly, after the previous half hour in bed with their hands roaming all over each other’s bodies she was already really turned on but after that kiss she felt like she was about ready to explode but she would be damned if she was giving Allie the upper hand, spinning her around so she now had Allie pinned against the wall she kissed her on the lips before trailing her kisses along her jaw and down her neck, stopping at her pulse point kissing and nipping on it before kissing along her collar bone and across her chest before turning her attention lower kissing and nipping her right breast before softly sucking her already erect nipple into her mouth earning her a low moan from Allie. Releasing her nipple from her mouth she kissed her way across to her left breast giving it the exact same attention. Kissing her way back up to her neck she pulled away slightly spinning Allie around so she was facing the wall of the shower, dragging her hands upwards from her waist painfully slow, too slow for Allies liking, her hands reconnecting with her breasts and softly massaging them, pinching both nipples between her thumb and finger, “oh fuck, Bea, stop teasing, I need to feel you,” Allie moaned. Bea slid her right hand slowly down over Allies ribs and stomach, dragging her fingers lower she began to massage her clit, “fuck,” Allie hissed. Bea lightly kissed her neck before removing her hand spinning Allie around again pushing her up against the wall and grabbing he leg and hooking it around her waist her right hand returning to he clit, “Bea,”Allie wined, leaning in to her ear she whispered to her, “tell me what you want Allie.”

  
“I need you to fuck me,” Allie couldn’t stop the moan escaping her has she felt Bea enter her slowly before picking up the pace her thumb massaging her clit, Allie was close judging by the moans and whimpers escaping her perfect mouth, “I love feeling you like this,” Bea whispered into her ear and that was all it took to send Allie crashing over the edge saying Bea’s name over and over again. Holding Allie up against the wall until she was able to stand properly, their bodies pressed together was only making Bea’s need to feel Allie touch her greater, before she knew it Allie had spun them around, slamming Bea into the wall before entering her, “fuck….Allie,” “I love having you like this, I love being inside you,” Allie breathed into her ear, sending Bea over the edge her orgasm tearing through her like never before. After holding onto her until she was able to stand unassisted they finally showered, and managed to get dressed ready to head to the restaurant for breakfast.

Reaching the restaurant they went to the self serve breakfast bar Bea deciding on fresh fruit and brioche French toast and Allie after much indecisiveness opting for fresh fruit and sourdough toast with smoked salmon, both having fresh orange juice and coffee. Sitting at their table they ate and looked out at the lagoon listening to the palms gently dancing in the breeze.

“Since I ordered our picnic for lunch today I thought we could have a walk down to lovers bay what do you think?”

“I think that sounds perfect.”

After finishing their breakfast they were heading back to their suite to get changed when Mark one of their hosts spotted Allie and called out to her. Allie told Bea that she would catch up with her and walked over to Mark, having a quick conversation about their plans for the day Mark said that either he or Libby would bring their picnic down to the beach for them since it wasn’t far, after thanking him she headed back to their suite slightly disappointed that she had walked in just a few seconds after Bea had finished putting her bikini on.

“Can’t you take that off again?”Allie pouted.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Bea giggled.

“Fine, I’ll wait until later, but one way or another it’s coming off.”

Walking over to her Bea pulled her into a hug, “I don’t doubt that for a second.”

Pulling out of the embrace reluctantly Allie turned to open a draw to grab one of her bikini’s and receiving a playful slap on her backside, turning her head to see Bea just grinning at her.

“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be is it?”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Bea replied trying to look a picture of innocence but failing.

“Two can play that game ya know,” Allie answered winking at her with a cheeky smirk on her face.

Bea pulled on her shorts and t shirt before sitting on the bed watching Allie get changed, suddenly discovering that she had made a mistake after Allie stripped herself of her clothes and decided that she didn’t want to wear the bikini she had originally picked turning her back to Bea and bending over to look in the draw again and trying to ignore the fresh wave of arousal that hit her was damn near impossible, “fuck,” Bea mumbled to herself.

“Did you say something babe?” Allie giggled knowing exactly what effect she was having on Bea.

Bea didn’t answer instead choosing to get up from the bed and walking out onto the deck trying to shake the not so innocent thoughts that were now running through her head. Looking out over the lagoon below her she still couldn’t believe that Allie had brought her here, she knew it must have cost a lot and she didn’t want Allie to spend her money on her but she also knew that it made no difference what she said, when Allie set her mind to do something she wouldn’t change it for anything or anyone. She didn’t hear Allie walk out onto the deck, but she knew she was there without turning around, she could feel her eyes on her,

“Ready to go?”

“If you are.” Bea replied spinning herself around and walking over to Allie, taking her hand they walked across the room, stopping to pick up the bag with their towels and sun screen in before they walked out of their room. Heading out of the lodge still hand in hand they took the path that lead down to the beach, stopping periodically to take in the view of their surroundings and each other. Arriving at the beach they both took their shoes off, looking around there was no one else on the beach, hardly surprising Bea thought to herself, it was a really small beach and pretty secluded. Walking across the beach to the large rocks that were right by the waters edge, Bea threw the bag up onto the flat top of the rock before climbing up, turning round she held out her hand to Allie helping her up, pulling her in close as soon as she was up close to her.

“What time did Mark say he was bringing our lunch down?”

“He said anytime after one, he’s going to meet us back up where the benches are under the pine trees, why?”

“No reason really, means we’ve got over two hours to do nothing in.”

“Well I can think of plenty of things we could in two hours but not while we’re sitting up here,” Allie sniggered.

“Behave will ya?”

“With you never.”

Bea slowly released her hold on Allie and sat down, Allie frowned at her a little before sitting between her legs, her back pressed close to Beas chest, her head back resting on her shoulder.

“I heard Libby telling one of the other guests that the locals call this beach the last paradise.”

“Yer, think they’ve got that right.”

They sat there for the next hour and a half making plans for the rest of their stay, even though Allie didn’t care for walking she had decided before even booking this holiday that she would make the effort, she’d rather they spent their days on the beach or in bed, but the island was more beautiful than she had expected, the brochure and Will photographs really hadn’t done it justice. Bea was keen to see as much of the island as was possible and given that the island was just over six miles long and just over a mile wide at its widest point she didn’t think it would be a problem, getting to a few of the eleven beaches that scattered the island might be a struggle for Allie but she was confident that by the time they were due to leave they would have got to the easier to reach ones. They decided to head back towards the benches and wait for Mark to arrive with their lunch, Allie sat on the bench that looked out over the lagoon Bea sat herself on the end of the bench and lay back resting her head in Allies lap.

“I really could stay here for the rest of day like this.”

“Mmmm, I bet ya could, but I thought you wanted to go for a swim later.”

“Yer, I do.”

They sat in silence for the next few minutes until they heard Mark approaching them apologising for being a little late, not that either of them minded. Bea sat up and accepted the picnic basket from him, before he was about to leave them he said they should leave the basket on the bench and someone would come down to collect it later. Allie suggested that they should sit under one of the pine trees to eat their lunch and Bea agreed, sitting with their backs to the huge tree they ate and chatted before returning to the beach.

Once back on the beach Bea retrieved their bag from the rock where they had left it and they walked hand in hand across the beach finding the perfect spot to relax for the afternoon they laid their towels out before removing their shorts and t shirts. After helping each other apply sun screen they both lay back enjoying the sun and the gentle sound of the water. After an hour Bea was bored with just laying there deciding that she was going for a swim, after gently nudging Allie it was obvious that she had fallen asleep, she didn’t want to just leave her there she’d been laying in the same position for an hour, after a little more persuasion she got her to turn over so she was laying on her stomach, leaving her there Bea walked down to the water.

Allie woke up about twenty minutes later turning her head looking for Bea there was just her towel laying next to her, turning over and sitting up she looked up the beach, seeing no one she turned her attention to the water spotting someone floating in the water she knew it could only be her girlfriend as there had been no one else on the beach all day.

After swimming around for ten minutes Bea just lay floating looking up at the sky and listening to the water around her, not expecting Allie to wake up anytime soon she wanted to stay in the water a little longer, laying on the beach was fine for a while but Bea would always get bored so easily just laying there with nothing to do. Bea Smith did not handle boredom well at all, if she had been alone she would have wondered off to find something to do but not wanting to wonder off leaving Allie alone she had just gone for a swim something they had already agreed they were going to do anyway.

Getting up Allie wondered down to the water, her eyes never leaving where Bea was, she looked like she could be asleep from a distance but Allie guessed that she was lost in her thoughts. Bea had closed her eyes suddenly opening them when she felt like she was being watched, turning her head slightly she saw Allie swimming over in her direction, deciding that she was going to have some fun with her, taking a deep breath she let herself sink under the water before swimming in the direction Allie was coming from. Allie noticing that Bea had disappeared stoped, treading water while she looked around not thinking for a second that Bea would appear behind her,

“Looking for me sleepy head?”

Allie turned around coming face to face with her,

“Shit Bea, don’t do that.”

“What did I do?”

“You just disappeared.”

“I didn’t, I’m right here.”

“You know what I mean,” Allie replied a slight frown on her face.

They swam a little further back to the shore so they could stand up, wrapping their arms around one another resting their heads on each other’s shoulders.

“When I couldn’t see you anymore I thought I could have lost you,” Allie mumbled into her girlfriends shoulder.

“You’ll never lose me, I promise, I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“You will be, do it again and you’ll be in the dog house the rest of the time we’re here.”

After getting out of the water they spent a little longer sitting on the beach before Bea suggested that they go back and shower, Allie really wanted to stay where they were for a little longer but judging by the look on Beas face she knew she was getting bored again so just agreed with her, pulling on their t shirts and shorts before packing their towels away and heading back to the lodge choosing to walk back bare foot, the path wasn’t rocky after all.

Returning to their suite Allie tried to pursued Bea that they should shower together, after checking the time Bea dismissed that idea saying if they did they would never go for dinner, and Allie knew she was right, especially after their morning activities in the shower. Allie showered first leaving Bea sat watching tv, not that she was really watching it her thoughts racing back to that morning and she almost gave in and joined Allie in the shower but managed to control the urge. Allie walking around their room in nothing but a towel wasn’t helping matters so Bea retreated to the shower. When she returned to the room she was pleased to find Allie dressed and stood out on the deck, dressing herself quickly she crept out onto the deck,

“Ready?”

“Jesus Bea, I know sneaking around is something your good at but please stop it.”

“Sorry, I don’t mean to…..so shall we go for a drink before dinner?”

“Sounds good, I could use a glass of wine or two after you scared me.”

Arriving at the bar just after it opened for the evening they both ordered a glass of wine before heading to the terrace for a while. Some of the other guests seemed to have the same idea and the terrace was soon buzzing with other people’s conversations. They didn’t stay too long on the terrace preferring their own company they went to the restaurant both wanting to have dinner and get back to their suite. Again they both decided against having a starter, ordering their main course and wine they chatted about what to do the next day, neither of them were really sure what they wanted to do. After finishing their meal they spotted Libby heading their way.

“Did you both enjoy your day on the beach?”

“Yes, I still can’t believe that no one else appeared down there all day,” Allie answered.

“Any plans for tomorrow?”

Bea shook her head, “we can’t decide, there’s so much we want to do.”

“You should walk over Malabar Hill and down to Neds Beach, we can do you a packed lunch, I’m sure you’d love it there, take some bread and you can hand feed the giant kingfish down there.”

A huge smile spread across Allies face,

“Another day at the beach babe, sounds like fun.”

“You just love the beach too much, but yer it sounds good.”

“Do you want a packed lunch? Or you could go to ‘Palmsugar’, it’s a great café although it doesn’t open until 2pm.”

“I think we might try the café, but we’ll definitely be taking the packed lunch another day,” pointing at Allie and giggling, “this ones not getting everyday at the beach.”

“Well if you need any more recommendations for days out just come and find me or Mark.”

After they both finished dessert and their wine they went and sat by the plunge pool for a while watching the sunset as they sat together on one of the sun loungers an arm round each other’s waist and their heads resting together.

“Perfect,” Bea mumbled.

“Huh, what is?”

“This is, being here with you, it’s perfect.”

“I think we should go back to our room don’t you?”

“Mmmm, perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have another chapter for you all soon.
> 
> I'd like to say thanks to all of you who voted for this story I'm so clumsily managing to keep writing here earning it a wildcard award, and thanks for all your comments and kudos.


	66. Chapter 66

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm late again posting this chapter. After a visit from my oldest nephew yesterday evening I almost lost the will to live never mind the will to continue writing. He's just got his first flat and of course I have to go shopping with him for furniture. Kids err!
> 
> Just a quick warning, you may want to avoid reading this in public when you get about halfway into it.

After not getting to sleep until around 2am Allie was surprised when she opened her eyes glancing at the time it wasn’t quite 7:30am, they were laying in the middle of the bed a tangled mess of arms and legs barely only under the covers from the waist down, a smile on her face when she thought about the previous night, Bea had been winding her up almost all of the previous afternoon and continued into the evening, sitting by the plunge pool hadn’t helped calm her down and as soon as they had got back to their room she had pinned Bea up against the wall but just like the previous morning Bea wasn’t playing and turned the tables on her again.

“And what are you thinking about?”

“You, I’m always thinking about you.”

“Is that so…..what were you thinking about me doing?” Bea giggled.

“You really need me to answer that after last night?”

“You know we’ve got plenty of time for a shower before breakfast.”

“Bea Smith, is that all you think about?”

“No, you know it’s not…but if you’d rather shower alone…..”

“Never.”

After spending another twenty minutes in bed they finally made it to the shower for a replay of the previous morning, and after managing to get dressed they made it down to breakfast a little earlier than they thought they would. Both of them choosing to have poached fruit, eggs benedict and sourdough toast along with coffee and fresh orange juice.

“I hope your feeling energetic this morning.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a pretty long walk from here to Malabar Hill.”

“You are kidding right?”

Bea just shook her head and laughed.

“We don’t have to go today if you don’t want to.”

“It’s fine, I do get to go to the beach after all.”

“Only if your sure, you don’t have to do it just because I want to…..although I will make it up to you later.”

Allie shot up from her chair, grabbing Beas hand she pulled her up dragging her out of the restaurant, bumping into Libby on their way out.

“Are you going over to Neds beach today?”

“Yes, only I’m not looking forward to the walk to Malabar Hill,” Allie answered honestly.

“You don’t have to walk there, Mark will take you over, we do have two electric carts for a reason, you will have to walk back though.”

Allie looked at Bea a slight pleading look on her face, Bea really wanted to walk but knew Allie wouldn’t make it there and back even if she did get to spend some time at the beach.

“That would be great, at least I’ll only have to walk back listening to complaints.”

They went back to their suite to get Beas backpack,

“We really don’t have to go Allie.”

“Yes we do, it’s something you want to do so we are.”

Even though she knew she was going to hate the walk down the hill it would be worth it, if they had to walk up it she would never have agreed, and since they had agreed to go to a café for lunch she already knew that they didn’t have to make the trip back up as Neds beach wasn’t really all that far from town. Leaving their suite they headed outside finding Mark already waiting for them, he handed Allie a bag that contained some bread.

“You can buy food to feed the fish over there but they love bread just as much.”

The ride over didn’t take too long and soon they were saying goodbye to Mark. Allie looked out over the view, suddenly wishing she hadn’t when she saw how the cliffs dove down into the sea, she looked at Bea with a small nervous smile, “why did I agree to this?” She wondered to herself. Feeling Bea take both her hands in hers,

“We can walk back into town and go the easy way to the beach.”

“It’s fine, honestly, it just looks a long way down, there is a path though right?”

“Course there is.”

The walk down really wasn’t as bad as Allie had expected, a little too long for her liking but walking behind her girlfriend for most of the way made up for that. They would stop occasionally to snap a few pictures, the views were stunning and Bea wanted to be able to show Liz and Franky just how beautiful the island was when she returned to work, although she knew Franky would want more details than what the island was like, at least for now she didn’t have to put up with her inappropriate questioning. Reaching the beach Allie sat down not wanting to move for the foreseeable future, Bea passed her a fresh bottle of water before sitting down next to her.

“I’m guessing you are going to want to lounge around for a couple of hours now.”

“Actually no, I’m not in the mood.”

“Really, I thought you wanted to come her to relax.”

“I can do that another day, like when you decide your going to walk up Mount Gower.”

“And what makes you think I want to do that?”

“Because you’re you, and as much as I love you I’m not walking up and down a mountain for eight hours, your on your own there?”

They sat for a little longer looking out over the golden sand that lead down to calm crystal blue water, there were a few people milling around but it wasn’t really busy, taking their shoes off Bea put them in her back pack after taking out the bag of bread. Bea pulled Allie up off the sand and they walked down to the waters edge before continuing a little further down the beach where there were no other people before walking into the sea, looking down into the water Bea pointed out the different fish that were swimming around their legs, mullets, garfish, sliver drummers and kingfish.

“Is there anything you don’t know?”

“Yer, there’s plenty I don’t know, but my dad loves to fish, he kinda taught us everything he knew.”

Taking some of the bread from the bag Bea leaned over, the fish swimming up and taking it from her hand. After spending another ten minutes feeding the fish they went to sit back on the beach for a while before they decided it was time to make a move and walk into town to get some lunch.

Arriving at Palmsugar a little after 2:30pm they went inside ordering a sandwich and a coffee each, Allie spotting the chocolate cake she just have to have a slice, there were only a couple of people in the café and they were told to take a seat on the outside deck and their food would be brought to them in a couple of minutes.

“Do you want to go back to the lodge or have a look around after we’ve eaten?”

Allie thought for a while.

“Maybe we should look around for a while, unless you have something else in mind,” she said winking at Bea.

\------------------------------

The next three days passed in much the same way they had visited North Bay, a secluded beach at the north end of the island, even though it was only accessible on foot Allie couldn’t resist the second she had heard the words ‘secluded beach’. Bea having gotten bored of just lazing around but not managing to convince Allie that a walk to Mount Eliza was a good idea had gone by herself, returning to find Allie fast asleep. Later on though she had with some not so subtle persuasion got her to walk with her to Herring Pools.

Getting Allie to walk Transit Hill hadn’t been difficult since there was the promise of Blinky Beach at the end of it, Bea had noted the pattern that formed, Allie would do anything she wanted her to just as long as there was a beach thrown in, since most of the walks Bea had been most keen on happened to end at a beach she was always up for it. They had started this particular walk from the islands administration centre, it was a rather leisurely walk something that had pleased Allie from the beginning and they had stopped to eat their packed lunch once they had reached the lookout point. They had both taken a lot a pictures whilst there as the 360-degree views were stunning. Taking the narrow track that led to Blinky Beach had been just as stunning for Allie since she had made Bea walk in front of her.

Allie had made the suggestion that they should go to Old Settlement Beach, Bea had wanted to spend that day walking Mount Gower leaving Allie to do whatever she wanted, but after almost an hour in the shower with Allie all thoughts of Mount Gower were out of her mind and she just didn’t want to spend the day alone walking up and back down a mountain. It was quite the picture perfect beach, they had spent the best part of two hours sitting on the sandstone rocks at the southern end of the beach talking and taking in the impressive view of the surrounding mountains before finding a spot on the beach to eat their lunch. Laying back on the beach soaking up the sun together, even though it was something that usually would bore Bea to tears somehow that day had seemed so perfect and she would have happily spent the rest of the day there. Heading back as high tide was approaching they were both mesmerised by the sight of turtles swimming in close to the shore.

\------------------------------

Bea awoke early, picking up her phone and seeing it was only just after 5:30am, she was excited that she would be doing the eight hour round walk of Mount Gower, she knew Allie was worried about her doing it, she had promised her over and over again the previous evening that she would be careful but it wasn’t until Allie had spoken to Libby about her concerns about her girlfriends plans that she had calmed down a little. Libby had explained to her that the guide she would be with had 20 years experience on the mountain and that nothing bad had ever happened.

Allie woke up a few minutes later, all the previous evenings nerves forgotten until she had glanced at Bea seeing that she was already awake and she remembered what she had planned for the day.

“Good morning sweetheart,” Bea whispered in her ear.

“Is it?”

“Please tell me your not still worrying about me.”

“I can’t help it, have you seen how high that fucking mountain is?”

“You can’t really miss it.”

“I know I’m probably being silly, and I know your going to be with a guide but I can’t help it.”

Bea perched herself on her elbow resting her head on her hand looking down at Allie, reaching over she ran her thumb over her cheek down the side of her neck and over her chest.

“Is there anything I can do to take your mind off it?”

“Hmmm,” Allie hummed as she scrunched her nose up.

Leaning in she placed a long slow loving kiss on Allies lips.

“Guess I better have a shower then.”

Bea was sitting on the edge of the bed when Allie sat up, threw her arms round her and pulled her backwards.

“You’re not going anywhere just yet, you need to give me something to think about for the rest of the day.”

“Oh yer, what did you have in mind?”

Bea dragged her body back so that she was now laying on her side facing Allie as she in turn let herself fall back against the mattress, her head hitting the pillow with a soft thud. Turning her head, blue eyes staring back in the deep brown that drew her in further than she had ever felt possible, her hand skimming over Beas arm and reaching round the back of her neck pulling her in closer kissing her with a fierce passion that left little to the imagination only breaking apart when the lack of oxygen was making them both dizzy. Pulling Bea closer until she was half laying on top of her their lips reconnecting in a slower less desperate kiss as Bea gently repositioned herself so she was laying fully on top of her slipping softly between Allies legs as she moved underneath her. Pulling back Bea pulled herself up to rest on her elbows their eyes never losing contact for a second,

“Have you got any idea how much I want you right now?” Bea said softly.

“Why don’t you tell me then?” Allie answered with a breathy laugh.

“Oh fuck,” Bea thought to herself, she had really not expected that answer and was regretting her own words now, she was still not comfortable verbalising her own wants or needs and until now had always managed to change the subject to something she was more comfortable with but right now as she was frozen to the spot gazing into the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen she saw a fire in Allies eyes that she hadn’t seen before. Lowering her upper body gently back down she held her gaze before kissing softly along Allies jaw, “I want you so much,” she whispered into her ear, trailing one hand down from her shoulder and down her side leaving a trail of goosebumps in the wake of her gentle touch and making Allie shudder.

Kissing down her neck and along her collar bone, “I want to kiss every inch of your skin.” Kissing down her chest stopping at her breasts covering each of them with feather light kisses before sucking gently on each nipple causing Allie to arch her back and moan softly.

Moving lower she kissed over her stomach feeling her muscles twitch under her lips, “I want to kiss the inside of your thighs and feel your sexy legs tremble under my touch.”

“Oh, fuck…..Bea.”

Kissing delicately over her hip she reached both hands up cupping each breast. Kissing down the inside of her left thigh, “I want to taste you.” Kissing her way softly up the inside of her right thigh, “I want to make you come with my tongue.” Feeling Allie wriggle under her, hearing her breath quicken, she knew what she was doing was having the desired effect. Looking up slightly at the woman she adored before she licked from her entrance to her clit, her eyes still on her girlfriend she watched her as she sunk her head deeper into the pillow, her breath becoming ragged as she soon found a steady rhythm, her ears being invaded by Allies soft moans. Moving a hand down to her hip to try and ground her, her hips moving in a steady rhythm along with her.

One of Allies hands finding its way into Beas hair the other grabbing at the sheets trying to hold onto something.

“Bea….fuck….please…..”

Picking up the pace she knew she wasn’t going to last much longer from the moans coming from her girlfriend.

“Ohhh…..fuck….babe…..I’m…I’m…”

Bea sucked her clit into her mouth, Allie closed her thighs round Beas head, moaning something that she can no longer make out, a few more firm licks of Bea’s tongue and Allies whole body began to shake uncontrollably, her legs falling slightly away from her head as the most beautiful sounds she had ever heard left Allies mouth filling the room and her ears her tongue staying with her as her moans lessened and decreased in volume as she came down from the most wonderful high Allie had ever experienced, her whole body finally relaxed into the mattress as Bea made her way back up her perfect body peppering it with soft kisses as she went, kissing her softly on the lips before gently rolling off her and laying by her side pulling Allie in close.

“Fuck Bea….that…that was……”

“Was what?” Bea whispered.

“Amazing….so fucking amazing I can hardly think straight never mind trying to formulate a sentence to describe how good that was."

Turning over to face Bea trying to get as close as she possibly could to her. They lay there in silence softly caressing and kissing each other until Allie finally flipped Bea onto her back. And she can’t stop, didnt want to stop what she knew was coming as she watched Allie slowly inching her way down her body to where they both knew she needed Allie the most.

\-------------------------------

After showering together proved more eventful than it should have after what they had just done they made their way down to breakfast, gazing at each other lovingly over the table before Bea said she needed to get going. Allie sighed saying that she was going to spend the day by the pool.

“Every time I look up at that bloody mountain I’m going to worry about you.”

“And every time I look down at the lodge I’m not going to stop the smile on my face thinking about you.”

“Just get going will ya or you’ll be late meeting the guide, just be careful ok.”

“I will, I promise,” dropping a soft kiss on Allies lips before she took off to pick her back pack up.

She bumped into Mark on her way back, thanking him for her packed lunch she headed out to meet the guide, she couldn’t hide her excitement even if she tried, she had toned it down in front of her girlfriend but now she was alone the mixture of excitement and the not so distant memories of their earlier activities was making her whole body hum.

Bea made it to the place she had to meet her guide by 10:30am as arranged,

“Hi, you must be Bea, I’m Jack Shick,” he said extending his hand in her direction.

“Pleased to meet you Jack,” she replied shaking his hand.

“So are you ready to go.”

“Yes, very much so.”

As they started the walk Jack told her that he was fifth generation islander and that his grandfather and father before him had both been mountain guides. He went on to tell her that he had done almost 2000 guided walks to the summit, that surprised her a little, but she already knew he had been doing guided walks for twenty years so really it shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise.  
Four hours later after tackling the trek up they finally reached the mist covered summit, the view from there was breath taking. She took quite a few pictures before they agreed that it was time to eat, finding a good spot to sit and eat. They chatted quite easily, Jack suggesting that if they hadn’t already been snorkelling they should before they went home, Neds Beach being highly recommended by Jack as a great place and also North Bay where they could see the wreck of the ‘favourite’ that had sunk there in 1965. Before they started to head back down Jack pointed out a couple of woodhens that he had spotted.

On the way down they chatted more, mainly about the rare plants and wildlife that they passed. They had stopped for a few minutes to have a drink and Bea looked over in the direction of the lodge, her thoughts wondering back to Allie, she couldn’t help the smile that crept across her face when she thought about her, she also realised how much she was missing her, it was the longest they had been apart since they arrived and she couldn’t wait to get back to the lodge. Finally back at their starting point Bea was presented with her certificate to commemorate her trip up Mount Gower, she also purchased a t shirt, photo disc and DVD of the trip, she wanted to be able to show Allie what it was like, she may not have wanted to tackle the walk but at least she could see for herself what it was like. Jack dropped her off back at the lodge, she had refused the offer at first but he convinced her when he reminded her it would be dinner time at the lodge.

Libby spotted her as soon as she walked in, letting her know that Allie was still sitting by the pool. She wondered out to the pool seeing Allie laying on a sun lounger in her red bikini, her breath caught in her throat, she couldn’t help letting her eyes wonder over the length of her body. Allie turned her head, looking at Bea over the top of her sunglasses,

“Finally, I thought you were never going to get back, I’ve missed you.”

“Yer, I’ve missed you to.”

“I bet ya did.”

“Would I lie about something like that?”

Allie stood up making her way over to her taking her by the hand,

“I think we better get changed for dinner don’t you, I doubt they would appreciate me turning up dressed like this.”

“Maybe not, but I certainly wouldn’t mind.”

Thirty minutes later they were sitting down to dinner, Allie listening intently as Bea recounted her day, she was glad she had enjoyed her day even though she had missed her like crazy and worried about her, she had heard some of the other guests talking about it while she was out by the pool and it had done nothing to calm her nerves. But now she was back, sitting across from her healthy and happy and she couldn’t be any more contented. Finishing their dinner they got a drink from the bar and sat out on the terrace an easy silence descended between them. Heading back to their room a while later to sit out on the deck with a drink from the mini bar that up until that night they had made no use of. Slipping into bed about an hour later they gravitated towards each other, holding each other close they slipped into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I do have to go to IKEA tomorrow as per my nephews request (please shoot me now) but I will try to concentrate on the next chapter after that.


	67. Chapter 67

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter, they had to go home sooner or later. And after spending half the day with my nephew my brain has turned to mush.

Walking down to the restaurant the next morning for breakfast Bea remembered that this was their last full day and night on the island the next day they would be headed home, back to real life and everything that came with it. Their first flight wasn’t until 3:30pm giving them a little extra time, and she had already decided that they would eventually return to Lord Howe Island, finding the time may be a problem.

Once seated at their table Bea had put all thoughts of snorkelling out of her mind, she would love to go back to North Bay but Allie had gone along with everything she had wanted to do with the only exception being the trek up Mount Gower, today she was quite happy to do whatever Allie wanted to do. A silence had descended between them, the kind of silence that Bea had once dreaded but with Allie it spoke volumes, every glance said everything they needed to say without ever having to utter a single word. Bea was the first to break the silence,

“What would you like to do today?”

“You haven’t already got something in mind?”

“No, you decide, you’ve done everything I’ve suggested even though I guess you’ve hated most of it.”

“I haven’t hated anything we’ve done, I may not be a huge fan of walking but every second I spend with you is worth it,” Allie replied honestly taking Beas hands across the table.

“I want to do whatever you want to do today, no arguments.”

“Hmmm…..how about we look round the museum?”

“Sounds good to me.”

After spending another half an hour sitting in the restaurant with another cup of coffee they made a move, Bea was surprised when Allie wanted to walk into town she was going to ask Mark if he would take them but Allie insisted they walk.

They spent a couple of hours looking around the museum, Allie was fascinated by the historical displays and kept one of the volunteers talking for over twenty minutes, not that Bea cared she was just happy that she enjoying herself, up until now she hadn’t really seen the inquisitive side of her girlfriends nature, there had been plenty of times that she had asked her about her work and how her and Franky proceeded with a case that they were working on but she had always thought that she was just taking an interest in what she had been doing, for now she was just going to leave it but once they were home she wanted to know what really got her interest fired up. They visited the gift shop before they left Allie purchased a couple of books that had been written about the island by local authors and the ramblers guide to Lord Howe Island for Bea.

As it was lunch time they went to the museum café for a sandwich and a coffee.

“Would you come here again?”

“To the island? Defiantly, I was thinking about it this morning.”

“You were?”

“Yes, why do you look so surprised?”

“Franky said you didn’t see the point in holidays.”

“I guess that’s true, but that was before I met you, all I wanted to do was work, it was the only time it felt like I was doing something worthwhile, you changed that, don’t get me wrong I still love working but it’s not all I think about anymore, you give me a reason to want to go home, to want to do things that aren’t just about working if that makes any sense.”

“Hey, I get it, honestly I do, I’ve never had anyone to do anything with, not that I was in a position do anything much, when I was living with Kaz she wasn't much fun, and when I ran again I was always too high to care anyway, then you found me and everything changed, I wanted to change.”

Finishing their lunch they headed back to the lodge, Allie wanted to spend the rest of the day down on the beach and Bea eagerly agreed, getting changed they walked down to Lovers Bay once again finding no one else there, they spent the rest of the afternoon just laying on the beach talking about other places they both wanted to visit work allowing. It was gone six before they knew it and they needed to head back for dinner.

\------------------------------

1pm the next day arrived too soon and they were on their way back to the airport , neither of them wanted to leave and Allie was wishing she had booked a two week stay, she had considered it at the time but being so unsure how Bea was going to react she had thought better of it. Checking in and going through security they got a coffee, they were both pretty quiet while they were waiting but all too soon they were on the plane and on their way back to Sydney, landing back at Kingsford Smith Airport two hours and fifteen minutes later with nothing much more than a forty five minute layover to look forward to. They finally landed back at Tullamarine Airport a little after 8pm, the wait at the baggage claim seemed to take forever. Heading out of the airport Liz spotted them instantly and waved to them,

“It’s so good to see you both, how was it?”

“It was really amazing Liz, it’s so peaceful, truly I could stand here all night and tell you about it but I think we need to get home.”

“You can tell me all about it when you get back to work.”

“I’ll be back in the morning so you won’t have to wait long.”

“Oh no, we’ve been fine without you for a week one more day off won’t hurt, and I’m sure Allie would rather spend her last day off with you at home.”

Allie giggled, “I think you’ve just been told babe.”

“Sounds like it doesn’t it.”

Dropping them off at home Liz told Bea again to stay at home the following day, and really she could use the extra day off, they need to do a grocery shop, washing to do and just all the usual boring post holiday stuff. They dropped their bags in the lounge leaving them where they fell, they were both tired, almost falling into bed they were soon asleep.

They were both late waking up the next morning, checking the time it was almost 11:30am.

“I think all that walking you insisted on doing has finally caught up with us,” Allie giggled.

“Na, I think it’s just that impending grocery shop we need to do that kept us in bed.”

After a quick shower and getting dressed they left the house, getting something to eat was at the forefront of both their minds and was certainly more desirable than going to the supermarket. Reaching the diner close to the office they decided to stop off there for lunch, walking in hand in hand they were surprised to find Liz and Franky there.

“Oh hey look, the love birds are back,”

“Piss off Franky, we got back last night.”

“Yer, yer, so what ya doin here?”

“Getting something to eat same as you two.”

“Admit it Red, ya missed me.”

“Yer, as much as I’d miss toothache.”

They all sat together, ordering their lunch they sat and chatted for a while as they ate before Liz said they had better be getting back to the office.

“See ya tomorra Red, oh yer just remembered, the trail date for two of fuck nuts has been set, Jake Stewart’s starts next week, the dickheads starts the week after.”

“What about Tina?” Allie asked.

“Oh yer, she pled guilty, got her sentencing tomorrow afternoon.”

“Thanks Franky, see ya in the morning.”

“You ok babe?”

“Yer, just hope they throw the book at Harry this time.”

“Shall we go do the shopping? I know it’s not much fun but it might take your mind off him.”

“We have to do it sooner rather than later unless we’re going to live on takeaways until Sunday.”

\------------------------------

  
Once the shopping was done they spent the rest of the day at home, they did the laundry before sitting out in the garden.

“I think we should start planning our next holiday.”

“We’ve been home for five minutes and you want to plan another holiday?”

“Planning it is half the fun babe, I’m not saying we have to book anything.”

“I guess we can think about where we want to go, but we have got to go back to New Zealand some time this year and before Christmas or we’ll never hear the end of it.”

After a couple of hours they went back in the house, ordered a pizza and crashed out in front of the tv few a couple more hours before they decided on a shower and early night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going try to get back to writing at my previous pace but I can't promise.


	68. Chapter 68

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And it's back to work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured I would introduce a few more Wentworth characters from here on in, well I need to add some drama so what better way?

The alarm going off ripped Bea from her sleep, it sounded so much louder than she remembered. Rolling onto her her back and reaching out with her eyes still closed she managed to silence it a loud groan escaping her lips as she heard a slight giggle coming from the side of her. Opening her eyes and rolling back onto her side she found Allie staring back at her, an amused grin on her face.

“It’s not funny,” shaking her head she found she couldn’t stop the giggle escaping her, Allies laughter was infectious, even the smallest giggle could set Bea off giggling like a little girl or drag her from her thoughts and make her lose her train of thought altogether, this morning being no exception, but this morning felt different. Before this morning the only time she’d woke up ready to start a new working week after being away was when she got back from New Zealand, the whole experience of actually having a real holiday in an unfamiliar setting with someone she loved more than life itself had changed her and that realisation had hit her hard as soon as she’d heard that giggle.

They both needed to get up but neither of them wanted to, Allie was the first to make any kind of move to leave the comforts of their bed.

“Hey, why are you so eager to get up, you don’t start work until ten?”

“Well you don’t look like you’re going to move anytime soon and if we both stay here we’ll be here all day, not going into work on our first day back isn’t going to look good now is it?”

Bea just sighed, she was right after all, she was happier that Allie wouldn’t be working late on a regular basis anymore, arriving home from work to an empty house felt like torture, true sometimes she would go over to the bar but it wasn’t something she could do all the time and now she found herself hoping that they didn’t get any new cases for a while that required long hours, for the first time in what felt like forever she found herself craving the steady hours that working at the salon had provided, not that she would give it all up and go back to that, the monotony of being a hairdresser had lost its appeal a long time ago. She knew that in reality something would crop up and probably sooner rather than later that needed more work, she had to speak to Franky about what they could do to take the pressure off, they had discussed finding someone else to work with them a long time ago but Bea hadn’t minded working until the early hours then if it was needed, there was no way she wanted to do that anymore than she had to.

Allie had already left the bedroom by the time she dragged herself from the bed, getting her clothes ready for the day before disappearing into the ensuite for a shower. Standing under the stream of water she didn’t hear the door open or close, she didn’t hear the shower enclosure open, she did however feel gentle arms wrap around her waist, a soft warm body press into her back and gentle kiss landing on her shoulder.

“Thought you might want some help,” Allie whispered in her ear.

\-------------------------------

Arriving at the office early Bea went straight to her office, before they went on holiday she had made sure to stay on top of her emails but she had not checked her inbox the whole time they were away, she could have and once she was seated in front of her computer she was beginning to wish that she had, although most of them were just junk that she deleted without reading them there were a couple that were important, getting straight back into it she had just finished replying to those when she heard the door open. Liz walked in followed by Franky a few minutes later, Franky making a bee line for her office.

“As much as I really want to grill ya right now we gotta talk.”

“Good morning to you to Franky.”

“I’ll get coffee and I’ll be right back.”

Something was off, she suddenly felt unnerved, but stayed in her chair waiting for Franky’s inevitable return. A couple of minutes later Franky returned coffees in hand kicking the door closed behind her, sliding a mug across the desk before sitting down.

“So what’s up?”

“Yesterday afternoon this guy, Derek Channing came in, said his niece had gone missing and he needed her found as soon as.”

“And, don’t we find missing people all the time?”

“I don’t like it, I got a bad feeling, something was off with him.”

“And what brought you to that conclusion?”

“Firstly he said it was his niece, ok nothing strange I guess, but when I asked about contact details for her parents he looked like he was gonna throw up, came up with some excuse that they were out of the country and couldn’t be contacted. I didn’t want to make a decision about it on my own so I told him to come back in today when you were back.”

“Ok, so we’ll see him together….there’s something else bothering you Franky.”

“Yer, well I looked into this guy after I got home, ya know Gidge was still at work and I had nothing else to do, turns out he’s regional director at Wentworth, ya know the women’s prison where Tina Mercado is currently residing and after today may be for a long time after. I did a bit more digging, the guy doesn’t have a niece, couple of nephews but I can’t find no mention of a niece…..And there’s more, he’s been linked to an illegal prostitution ring but so far nothing has stuck to him.”

“Shit Franky, we don’t need dragging into that kind of shit.”

“I know, I know…..but he was being investigated while Will was still on the force so I gave him a call, turns out a lot of ex prisoners have been disappearing and they believe they were being trafficked and put to work in illegal brothels.”

“Anything else?”

“I’m gonna keep looking, but ya know my guess is whoever she is she’s probably an ex inmate, and well….listen Bea please don’t think I’m having a go or trying to offend ya, but that could have easily been Allie.”

Bea closed her eyes and rested her head back against her chair inhaling deeply. The mere mention of Allie ever being put in that position sending chills through her entire body, they had never gone that deep into what Allie had suffered while she was on the streets, really if she were honest she didn’t want to know and didn’t want to upset Allie, if she could get her hands on every guy that had ever used and abused her girlfriend she would kick the living crap out of them, every single one them. The thought that any woman, ex inmate or not could be treated like that made her blood boil and her skin crawl at the same time.

“It’s fine Franky, what time is he coming in?”

“10:30, I needed to stall him said you wouldn’t be in till late, I knew I needed to talk to ya.”

“What time is Mercado’s sentencing?”

“Huh….2pm, Kaz is gonna be there, she gonna come in and tell us the verdict, oh yer and she said she needed a word with ya.”

“Think I need some air….want anything from the coffee shop?”

“Surprise me.”

\-------------------------------

Allie arrived at the bar fifteen minutes early, the new building work was going well and there were contractors in and out of the bar. Will was speaking to one of them and he saw her arrive, waving her over as soon as she got out of the car. Will finished his conversation with the guy he introduced her to as Mike before they went inside heading for the office.

“So come on, I’ve got to know she loved it right?”

“Yer, we both did, actually we’re thinking of going back another time.”

“I never thought I would ever meet the person who was good enough to change workaholic Bea Smith into someone that could actually consider going on holiday, I don’t know how ya did it but please keep doing it whatever it is your doing.”

“Yer well, I have my ways,” she giggled, “we’ve been talking about other places to go on holiday, but enough of that how’s everything going here?”

Will showed her the final plans for the new layout before they headed back out to the bar to show her everything that was being done, the bottom end of the bar was being refitted, the new bar was in and it looked a lot bigger than Allie remembered it but she guessed as it was almost empty that was the reason why. There had been new double doors fitted and as Will explained he really had to do it because when the restaurant was finished there was going to be a new outdoor space shared between the two and he didn’t want people to have to walk all the way through the restaurant to get outside, it also made sense since when the main bar was closed they could still open, he admitted it was a bit of a headache with inspectors coming and going but there had been no real issues.

Allie started getting the bar set up ready for opening when Shane arrived, they spent the next hour chatting about their holiday, she promised to show him pictures after her shift was over. Just before they opened she had gone to the office to let Will know that one of the contractors needed a word, checking her phone before she left she saw a text from Bea.

**How is it possible that I’m missing you like crazy already? Have a good day beautiful x**

She couldn’t help but smile, and she was now finally convinced that she had made the right decision becoming bar manager, she was not going to miss closing up every couple of weeks, those late nights drove her mad, sending a quick reply before going back to the bar.

**I miss you too, so much. It’s a little crazy round here with all the work going on. Please don’t tire yourself out at work too much gorgeous x**

\------------------------------

Bea had walked to the coffee shop trying to clear her head, she didn’t like the sound of anything Franky had just told her, and then there was Allie, she was always interested in their cases and even though she couldn’t always tell her a lot she would fill her in as best she could, how would she ever be able to explain any of this to her without upsetting her? Buying three doughnuts from the coffee shop she walked back to the office sending a text to Allie on the way. Arriving back ten minutes before Derek Channing was due to arrive.

“Feeling a little better now love?”

“Honestly Liz I’m not sure, this whole thing sounds so messy, and it doesn’t help that he has the police looking into him.”

“But it’s still a missing person love, even if he’s lying about who she is can you walk away?”

“That’s the problem Liz, we both know I cant, but I won’t find someone and let them return to a life of abuse.”

“I know love, you’ll do the right thing, you always do,….Franky’s waiting for you in your office, I’ll send him in when he gets here.”

Bea nodded and handed the bag of doughnuts over to Liz, “for after he’s gone.”

Franky had dragged her chair from her own office into Beas and was sat waiting on her when she walked in.

“Ya went to the coffee shop and ya didn’t buy me anything?”

“Piss off Franky, I got doughnuts.”

Sitting in her chair she took the file Franky was holding and skimmed through the details it contained, to say the information was a little sketchy was an understatement, only for once she couldn’t blame Franky, this guy sounded like a creep and she wasn’t looking forward to meeting him.

A few minutes later there was a tap on the door and Liz entered,

“Mr Channing to see you both.”

“Thanks Liz, take a seat Mr Channing, my apologies for not being here yesterday.”

  
“Can I get anyone a coffee?” Liz enquired.

Bea and Franky both nodded.

“Mr Channing?”

“Yes, white with two sugars please.”

Liz returned a couple of minutes later handing out the coffees before retreating back to her own desk.

“So…Mr Channing, you’re looking for your niece, you don’t seem to have provided my colleague with many details, if you want us to find her you have to tell us every detail you can think of.”

“I am aware of that, I’m just upset about her disappearing the way she did, I wasn’t really thinking yesterday, but my mind is clearer now.”

“Oh yer I bet it is, now you’ve rehearsed it all in your head.” Bea thought to herself as she looked over at Franky.

A hour and a half later he was leaving the office after a pretty thorough interrogation by Bea, she had tried to catch him out but she had to hand it to him his delivery of the information they needed was flawless, but not natural. They had both been doing this long enough to know when someone had made sure they had memorised every detail added to the fact that there was absolutely no trace of emotion in his voice or on his face. Franky walked him out assuring him that they would do everything possible and that if he thought of anything else he should call straight away. Liz had gone out by the time he left to pick up a sandwich for the three of them for lunch.

Bea had seen her phone light up while they were talking but it had been on silent, when Franky had walked him out she picked it up seeing a text from Allie, reading it she couldn’t help but smile debating in her head if she should answer her, of course she did even though she knew she would probably be working and not able to answer until her break.

**It’s a little crazy round here too, just took a new case. Kaz is stopping by after the sentencing hearing. Let Shane do all the work. I love you x**

Hearing Liz and Franky laughing she got up and wondered out of her office taking her phone with her.

“I brought lunch love, thought you two would need time to discuss things.”

“I’m not sure any amount of discussion is gonna help solve this one Liz, do you Franky?”

“I think I need to do more digging Red, we can’t just jump into this one, but I think we need to chill for the rest of the day, the guys a creep no doubt about that, let’s have lunch before we do anything else.”

The three of them were still sitting around when Kaz arrived, Liz offered her a coffee before she had even closed the door which she accepted.

“Gonna tell us the verdict?” Franky asked a touch of excitement in her tone.

Bea gestured for her to sit down before frowning at Franky who just threw her hands up and shook her head. Kaz smiled and sat down taking the mug of coffee from Liz, taking a sip before speaking.

“Tina got sentenced to 15 years, she should be on her way back to Wentworth as we speak.”

“Well that’s some good news at least….biscuit?” Liz offered.

All three of them shook their heads.

“What did you need a word with me for, or do you need to speak in private?”

“I just wanted to let you know that I’ve started working at a women’s shelter, I just thought that if you ever came across anyone who needs help you could let me know or pass my number on.”

“Hmmm…..you know that might not be such a bad idea, we have had a few women in the past that have needed help and we never had anywhere to point them to.”

“Yer, and if this new case is anything like we think it might be we might have at least one girl who could need some help.”

“Jesus Doyle, your agreeing with something, Liz call Bridget I think she’s coming down with something nasty.”

The four of them sat and chatted for a while until Kaz said she better get going asking Bea to let Allie know she’d give her a call on Sunday. Bea had just walked back in her office when her phone beeped, pulling it from her pocket she saw a text from Allie.

**Hope it’s not the kind of case that’s going to take you away from me for too long. I’ll see you at home real soon, and I love you too gorgeous x**

Bea replied straight away.

**I hope it won’t either, can’t wait to get home got things to tell you x**

After spending twenty minutes checking her emails Bea was ready to call it a night.

\------------------------------

Bea made it home five minutes before Allie, she was already in the kitchen trying to make a start on dinner but she couldn’t decide what to make, she didn’t hear Allie walk into the kitchen, the first she knew she was there was when she felt her arms round her waist.

“Now who’s sneaking around?”

“Maybe, but I didn’t make you jump.”

“Any ideas what you want for dinner?”

“Are you on the menu?”

Bea turned around draping her arms over Allies shoulders.

“Not that I know of, but that could change.”

“Can’t we just order a takeaway, I need a shower and you said you had things to tell me.”

“Get going then….how does Chinese sound?”

“Perfect, I won’t be long babe.”

Allie was just about to pull away when Bea pulled her back placing a lingering kiss on her lips.

“That’s better, now go for a shower.”

\------------------------------

After they had eaten and Bea had had a shower hey were curled up on the sofa with the tv on, neither of them paying any attention to what was playing out on the screen until Beas phone started ringing.

“Franky, have you got nothing better to do than call me?”

“Well yer, but ya need to know something.”

“Go on, tell me if it’s that important.”

“Well yer, we can’t talk about over the phone, but that girl is an ex prisoner, I'll fill ya in tomorrow properly, just needed to tell ya.”

“Thanks Franky, see ya tomorrow.”

“So, you said you had some things to tell me.”

Bea told her about Tina and Kaz remembering to tell her that she was going to call her on Sunday. She wasn’t sure if she should tell her anything about the case so in the end just told her it was a missing person, she needs to know what Franky had found out so she knew more about what they were dealing with. Allie told her about the work that was being done at the bar and about how fast the restaurant was being built.

“Something’s bothering you.”

“It’s just this case, I always worry about missing people you know that.”

“Did ya worry about me this much?”

“No….I worried twice as much about you, the second I saw that photo of you, I don’t know….Anyway I already told you this, I just had to find ya, and as it turns out I was right.”

“Yer, you were.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOOOO.....it's Wednesday again tomorrow.....so yep I'll be busy, may get another chapter finished though.


	69. Chapter 69

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me a long time to update again, Wednesday was crazy and I got talked into going Christmas shopping with my sister. Thursday I woke up with a migraine and even if I had wanted to write it wasn't gonna happen. I tried catching up yesterday but time got away from me yet again, I've only just finished writing this chapter.
> 
> I have to tell you all that the end of this chapter is NSFW, or any other public place when I think about it.

Arriving early at the office the next morning Bea was surprised to see Franky’s car, even more surprised to find Franky sat on the floor, papers spread out in front of her.

“What the hell Franky?”

“Red, bout time, I’ve been here an hour already.”

“You could have told me you were coming in early, I would have been here.”

“Yer but this is a fucking mess….listen I know ya girls gonna find out about this, all of this and she’s gonna need ya Red.”

“What the fuck are you talking about Franky?”

“Sit down and I’ll tell ya.”

Franky got up from the floor, poured two coffees, handing one to Bea, before resuming her place on the floor. Franky was struggling to tell her what she had found out, but it was impossible to put it off, explaining that she had been in contact with the detective who was investigating Channing, she was more than happy to help them anyway she could and had furnished Franky with more information than she should have, she’d been trying to catch Channing for two years but it didn’t matter how much mud was slung at him, none of it stuck. Handing over the photo of is ‘niece’ to Bea along with her arrest record, she read the file frowning when she suddenly read and understood what Franky had meant, Dana Malouf had three years previously been arrested alongside 'Allie Novak'. It was the only time Allie had ever been arrested managing somehow after that brush with the law to fly completely under the radar, Dana on the other hand had various arrests for drugs and prostitution leading to her being given a two year sentence in Wentworth, after being paroled she had disappeared two weeks later and there was now a warrant out for her arrest. Bea threw herself back against the chair she had been until now perched on.

“Red ya know Allie might not even remember her.”

“Maybe not, and I really don’t want her dragging into any of this, but I can’t keep it from her either, it’s bad enough that I just found out she’s been arrested once, she gonna think I’m looking into her past. I need your help Franky, we need to talk to her.”

“We will, but we have to get this all laid out, get it straight in our own heads before we tell her, and she’s gonna know ya ain’t digging up her past, I don’t have details of her arrest just her association with this Dana, we gotta know just what we’re dealing with, I got that detective coming over later, she should be able to get this all into proper perspective.”

The door opened and Liz walked in, looking at the sight before her she knew there was something wrong, and judging by the look on Bea’s face it was bad, really bad. Her eyes darted between them both, trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t get her head bitten off by one or worse still both of them. Her mind a complete blank she just walked to her desk, dropped her bag down and took her seat. Franky gathered all the papers together and stuffed them back into a file without saying a word. Getting up from the floor she went to her office softly closing the door behind her leaving Liz and Bea alone.

“Is there a problem love?”

“Difficult case Liz, there’s a detective coming in later, not sure when.”

“I’ll let you know when he arrives.”

“She….and let Franky know she’s the one who been in contact with her, if we get any calls can you take a message?”

“Course love, no problem.”

Bea poured another coffee before retreating to her own office, nothing could free her mind of worry. There was every possibility that Allie, even if she didn’t know Derek Channing, had heard of him, and that scared her, after meeting him face to face she had felt uneasy about him, but now, knowing everything Franky had dug up that unease ran through her with a force that was just indescribable. If the police couldn’t prove that he was, even in part, responsible for the missing women and illegal brothels what the hell were they going to do? Sure they could maybe find the missing woman, then what? Would she talk, tell the police everything she knew? Would they need to track down more of the missing women? Every possible question she had was turning over and over in her mind. And then there was Allie, no way was she going to allow her to be dragged into this mess, regardless of what she had done in her past that was exactly what it was, her past. Bea couldn’t imagine how she survived out there for so long on her own, yet she had, she survived, made it out, turned her life around and become so much stronger in the process.

She was torn from her thoughts by a loud knock on her office door, seconds later it swung open and Franky breezed in in her usual cocky manner followed by Detective Ayoub. After taking a seat the detective pulled out numerous files from her bag, the first two she passed over to Bea explaining that they were two ex inmates who had been paroled early over the last five weeks and had both seemingly disappeared without a trace within two weeks of being released.

“So, we should be looking for these two as well?” Bea sighed.

“If you could keep a look out for them it would most defiantly be appreciated, but I’m not going to ask you to actually look, they have been out longer than Dana and could be anywhere by now.”

“How many paroled inmates have actually gone missing?”

“Over the last two years I seem to have lost count, over the last six months about a dozen, not that I want to worry you both or anything but two have been found dead in suspicious circumstances .”

The detective had gone on to explain that everyone of the missing women had been recommended for early parole by none other than Derek Channing with the support of the social worker who had been working with the women ahead of their release. They had all either had a history of prostitution, drugs or both. Bea had shivered hearing that, how easily it could have been Allie if she had been arrested again. The conversation and subsequent details they gathered dragged on for another two hours much to Beas frustration, this whole thing wasn’t just a mess it was a gigantic fucking mess that may never be resolved. She would love to see nothing more than Channing get what he deserved, but they couldn’t rush into this, Franky was always more cautious than Bea but this time she knew she had to follow Franky’s lead and that would not be easy. Franky walked the detective out after another fifteen minutes then returned to Beas office saying that they should get out of the office and go for lunch.

Twenty minutes later they were both sat in the diner, Franky picking at the fries she had ordered and Bea sipping a coffee, she wasn’t hungry and thought she might not be for the rest of the week.

“Any ideas where we start Franky?”

“Your asking me?”

“You’ve seem to be handling this better than I am, you have to lead on this.”

“If that’s what you want Red but ya know this ain’t my thing, you always lead on these things.”

“Honestly Franky, I can’t, I can handle the job but this Channing shit is too much…besides you’ve got this, you’ve done all the ground work already.”

After a rather heavier conversation than they would usually have over lunch they headed back to the office, Franky going straight to her office to go through the files Detective Ayoub had left with her. Bea had been sat in her office for over an hour staring at the same spot on the wall when she suddenly had a thought, jumping up from her chair she almost ran to Franky’s office, bursting in through the door.

“Fuck Red, where’s the fire?”

“Just listen to me a second will ya, Kaz is working at a woman’s shelter right? What if we make copies of the pictures of all the missing women and ask her to keep an eye open for any of them turning up there.”

“Ha…thought ya were taking a back seat on this,” Franky laughed.

“I know, I know, but I’ve been sat in my office since we got back and it’s the only thing I’ve come up with so far, it might not be any use but ya never know.”

“Anything we can do would be helpful, you call Kaz and I’ll get the copies.”

Bea left Franky to make copies of the pictures and went back to her office to call Kaz, skimming over the details of the case Kaz agreed that she could do that, after all they were in trouble and needed help. Kaz said she couldn’t leave the shelter and gave Bea the address asking her to give her a call when she arrived. Returning to Franky’s office she had already printed copies of the pictures and also a few details of the women that would make identification easier if they did turn up. After gathering her things together Bea was just about to leave when Franky shouted to her,

“Hey Red, after you’ve done that get ya self off home yer, I’m gonna stay late and finish up as much as I can, if you get any info just give me a call.”

She wasn’t going to argue, getting home early meant she had plenty of time to cook dinner and today all she wanted to do was get home and spend the evening with Allie.

  
“Yer sure thing Franky, and if your going to be in early give me a call yer, I’m up at six.”

“No worries Red.”

Arriving outside the shelter Bea had a good look around, there was something about being outside that place that made her nervous, maybe it was just because the place looked so grey from the outside and she doubted the inside was any different, her thoughts once more returning to Allie, had she ever stayed in a place like this? They had never talked about it, she hadn’t wanted to drag her past up and now she knew that it was a possibility and Allie could end up hating her and she couldn’t think about that. Getting out of the car she pulled her phone from her pocket and called Kaz letting her know she was outside. Five minutes later Kaz was walking towards her and quickly ushered her inside, leading her down a dimly lit corridor to an office before gesturing for her to take a seat.

“You think there’s a possibility some of these women could come here?”

“Some of them already could have, been and gone I’m guessing, I don’t want you to think that I’m asking for your help because I want that arsehole locking up, I do, but I’m more concerned about the women. This is a fucking mess Kaz, Dana, the one we’re actually supposed to be looking for knew Allie, they were arrested together, so I’ve got to tell her all this, well, most of it.”

Bea handed over a file with the pictures and the details Franky had printed out, Kaz glanced through it quickly.

“Allie was arrested? When?”

“Three years ago, before either of us ever knew her. I’m worried ya know, what if she thinks I’m looking into her past?”

“I don’t think she’ll think that, not if you explain it all to her.”

“I hope not….I better get going, need to get home before Allie does.”

Kaz walked her out of the building and back to her car.

“I’ll keep my eyes open Bea…should I call you if any of them come here?”

“If you could let me know I’d appreciate it, but I won’t come running straight here don’t worry about that, I’ll let you decide when you think it’s the right time. I only want to keep them safe ya know.”

“Yer, I’m with ya there…..ya better get home, don’t want Allie sending out a search party for ya,” Kaz laughed.

Arriving home it was only just after four, she had plenty of time to have a shower and prepare dinner, running upstairs to the bedroom she quickly undressed and jumped in the shower really wishing she could just wash away everything that was going on, she stood under the water letting it wash over her body for five minutes before she got washed and got out. Quickly dressing in shorts and a t shirt she went to the kitchen having decided that she was going to just make a chicken salad, it was too warm and she wasn’t in the right mindset to cook anyway added to the fact that she just wasn’t hungry anyway. Grabbing everything she needed from the fridge she prepared the salad and put it back in the fridge before going to sit outside for a while. Just after five she went back in the house, getting a beer from the fridge she stood looking out of the window, downing half the beer in one go. She heard the key in the lock and heart rate increased, by the end of the week everything would be out in the open and everything they had right now might be gone, blinking the tears away she turned round to find Allie walking towards her a mischievous grin on her face. Taking the bottle from her hand she set it down on the counter top and draped her arms over Beas shoulders.

“Miss me?”

“Always….ya hungry?”

“Only for you.”

Allie pushed her body closer to the redheads, trailing her fingertips down the exposed skin on her arms leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake leaving Bea in no doubt what Allie wanted, looking into her eyes her intentions were clear and she knew she could never say no to her, it didn’t matter what had been on her mind before just that one look completely erased all those thoughts. Gently tracing her fingers back up her arms, over her shoulders and up her neck finally bringing her hands to rest on her face she brought their faces closer together ghosting her lips over Beas causing her to whimper in frustration and Allie to smirk. Closing the gap between them their lips finally meeting in a gentle kiss. Bea brought her arms up so they were round her waist pulling her in closer while desperately kissing her back, one hand trailing up her spine and coming to rest on her neck pulling her in even closer. Breaking the kiss Allie pulled away taking a step back leaving her very confused and frustrated girlfriend rooted to the spot leaning against the counter top. She slowly backed away even more, their eyes never breaking contact until she turned on her heels and walked to the kitchen door, looking over her shoulder she winked at her, “I’m going for a shower,” before leaving the room completely and walking up the stairs.

Bea felt like she had been stood there forever when really it was only a minute or two, picking up her beer she finished it before going to the fridge and grabbing another downing it in one go, closing her eyes she inhaled deeply before following Allie, reaching the top of the stairs she saw the bedroom door was closed, opening it slowly she could hear the shower running and was tempted to join her, changing her mind at the last minute she sat on the edge of the bed and waited. After twenty minutes she had gotten bored and had lay on the bed arms behind her head, the day had been mentally draining and she had only intended to close her eyes for a minute, by the time Allie had finished in the shower she had dozed off. Leaving the en suite Allie frowned when she looked over at the bed, “how can she even be asleep?” She thought to herself. Smiling to herself as she crossed the floor to the foot of the bed, dropping the towel from her body as she went, she knelt at Beas feet leaning forward she kissed from her ankle up to her knee, feeling Bea begin to stir under her, looking up she saw her now propped up on her elbows gazing back at her.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to wake you up.”

“I think you did that already…I didn’t mean to fall asleep, you just took too long in the shower.”

Reaching up she unbuttoned Beas shorts before pulling down the zip, reaching for the waistband she tugged them down and off dropping them on the floor, leaning back over her legs she continued kissing from her knee, up the inside of her thigh and over her hip, pushing her t shirt up as she carried on kissing her way over her stomach feeling the muscles twitch beneath her lips. Beas skin was on fire and her heart rate increased as she continued kissing her while tugging her t shirt further up, only stopping to get her girlfriend to raise her arms so she pull it off completely before reaching round to unclasp her bra, she gently pushed her back onto the mattress before removing it. Going back to kissing her she kissed the valley between her breasts and continued up to her neck, along her jaw before reaching her lips, softly laying her body down against her now almost completely naked body. Bea moved her hands round to Allies back digging her nails in slightly as she dragged them across the her soft skin all the time their lips never parted, the kiss becoming increasingly more heated until Bea suddenly flipped them over, kissing from her lips to her neck and moving lower until she reached her breasts kissing all over them until her lips closed around her left nipple gently sucking it into her mouth she heard Allie gasp, softly dragging her hand up her right side before connecting it with her breast and gently massaging it, all the time Allie had one hand tangled in her hair the other softly running up and down her back.

Bea moved lower kissing down her stomach inch by inch, she was in no mood to rush, in the back of her mind the thought still lingered that everything between them was coming to an end, she couldn’t shake it even now. Ignoring where she knew she needed her most she kissed down the inside of her left thigh all the way down to her ankle before kissing her way back up her right leg before slowly tracing her tongue through Allies drenched folds but not lingering there causing her to groan at the loss of contact, “fuck…Bea….please, stop teasing me.” Kissing her way back up her body she raised her eyes to see blue eyes looking back at her, carrying on her assent up her body until she found her lips kissing her passionately while pressing her thigh against her core swallowing the moans coming from the blond. Allie didn’t know where to put her hands choosing to tangle one in soft red curls the other eventually coming to rest on her back, grinding her hips into Beas thigh trying to get as much pressure as she could to calm the throbbing in her core. Bea trailed her hand lower down her stomach tracing small circles on her skin while breaking the kiss to move to her neck, moving herself slightly she moved her hand lower dipping one finger between her wet folds gently teasing her clit. Allie jerked her hips forward trying to get more pressure as she moved her finger down to her entrance slowly entering her, “Bea….please,” pulling her finger out she entered her again with two fingers slowly thrusting in and out and swiping her clit with her thumb, kissing along her jaw and neck she gradually increased the pace dragging the most beautiful moans from Allie she thought she had ever heard, “babe, I’m…I’m….so close,” recapturing her lips in a passionate kiss she curled her fingers and applied more pressure to her clit a few seconds later Allie was a moaning mess as she came hard arching her back as Bea helped her ride her orgasm out, slowly removing her fingers and licking them clean as Allie fell back against the mattress trying to get her breathing back under control. Bea lay at her side, her arm over her stomach and her head resting on her shoulder.

After a few minutes her breathing had returned to normal and she had pulled Bea closer to her side.

“Bea……I think my brain has turned to mush…..I don’t want to move from this spot.”

“So don’t…..we don’t have to go anywhere.”

Turning on her side so they were facing each other they kissed slowly to start but things soon became more heated as Allie gently pushed Bea so she was laying on her back, half laying on her as she kissed down her neck across her chest and down to her breasts paying attention to each one before moving lower, stopping for a second to hook her fingers under the panties that she was still wearing and tugging them down, pulling them off and throwing them behind her not caring where they landed. Moving herself so she was now between her legs she licked her clit causing Beas hips to jerk forward, she didn’t want to tease her too much so increased the pressure until she eventually felt her hands on her shoulders gently trying to coax her up the bed to her, kissing her way back up her body she slid her hand back down her body slipping her fingers through her folds and entering her with two fingers causing Bea to gasp, she continued her movements speeding up and applying pressure to her clit with her thumb until Bea came loudly moaning Allies name, when the intense waves of pleasure eventually subsided she removed her fingers flopping down on her side holding Bea close. They lay together just holding each other both falling asleep for a short while, Bea waking up first watching the beautiful woman in her arms sleep until her eyes fluttered open once more.

“Are you hungry now?”

“Hmmm, I think I might be.”

“Good because I’m starving.”

Getting off the bed Bea threw her shorts and t shirt back on leaving the bedroom while Allie threw on a t shirt and sweats and following her down to the kitchen.

“It’s only chicken salad but I couldn’t be bothered to cook, turns out that was probably a wise move,” Bea giggled and Allie joined in.

Sitting at the table together they ate Allie telling her about her day, Bea didn’t want to say too much about work only telling her what she thought was safe to tell her for now, she felt guilty for not telling her everything, she really wanted to but now was not the time, in all honesty she didn't think there was ever going to be a right time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be starting the next chapter today so fingers crossed I will try and update again tomorrow, this story needs its arse kicking into more drama.


	70. Chapter 70

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well the temperature has been hovering around -2 for most of the day and it's snowing so I've had nothing much to do all day except write, although I did struggle with parts of this chapter for some reason, but I managed to get it finished, finally two days in a row again!

Bea was already in the shower when Allie woke up after receiving a text from Franky letting her know she would be in the office by 7:30am. She found it strange that she hadn’t woken her up as she normally did. Dragging herself from the bed she opened the en suite door,

“Bea, is there something wrong?” She half shouted so she would be heard over the water.

“No, I just need to be in the office early.”

“Oh,” a hint of disappointment in her voice, “do you want any breakfast?”

“I could murder a coffee if your offering.”

“Might be a good idea, don’t want ya upsetting Franky or Liz.”

“I know,” Bea sighed.

Picking up her bag and car keys she left the house. Arriving at the office a few minutes before Franky she left her bag in her office before going to start the coffee, they had to get out of the office today and start asking around, she wasn’t looking forward to it but they couldn’t put it off much longer, Derek Channing would be wanting an update soon, sure they could lie, they were experts in telling half truths when the need arose and it wasn’t as if he had told them anything that could be considered the truth really, all except for Dana’s details everything else was a lie. Franky walked through the door, coffee and pastries in hand.

“Bet ya didn’t eat breakfast did ya?”

“Oh hey Franky, finally found your crystal ball?”

“Idiot…..I didn’t have time to eat that’s all.”

They sat down discussing how they were going to proceed, agreeing that Franky would head over to Melbourne CBD and Bea would take St Kilda, after all Bea knew more people over there than Franky and they would talk to her. Once that was sorted Bea raised the subject of taking someone else on, Franky agreed it would help them out and she knew the perfect person, if she could convince her. They agreed that Franky would have a word with Linda who worked with Allie at the bar, Linda Miles had a few years ago worked as a private investigator, after a really bad case with a missing child she had given it up and gone to work for Will. Franky agreed that she wouldn’t ask her until they had spoken to Allie, just on the off chance that Linda agreed and slipped up with any of the details about the case. When Liz arrived they were both getting ready to leave, Bea was double checking that she had everything just as Liz entered the office.

“Morning love, you two on your way out I see.”

“Yer, can’t keep putting it off no matter how much I’d like to.”

“Well I hope you get some results, will either of you be coming back in today or should I lock up?”

“I won’t be back in today…..how about you Franky?”

“Na, Gidge is working till six, I’m like you Red, need to get home.”

After telling Liz to lock up anytime she felt like it after four they went in their separate directions. Bea sending a text to Allie before driving off.

**Sorry for running out on you like that. I won’t be late home, promise. I love you x**

\------------------------------

  
Arriving at her destination Franky parked her car, checked that she had everything she needed before leaving the car deciding to first wonder over to the tunnels under the Princes Bridge, she knew a couple of people who hung out in that area and she was hoping to run into them, if not she would just ask around without their help. Looking around she spotted one of the teenagers she knew.

“Jamie, over here,” she yelled.

He ran over to her giving her a hug.

“Franky, long time no see, how ya been?”

“Great, couldn’t be better, need ya help if your up to it.”

“Yer sure, Marks around somewhere, we should find him.”

Franky filled Jamie in on what they were working on as they looked for Mark, finding him not long after. She showed them the photos she had Mark instantly recognised one of the women,

“That’s Cindy, saw her over by Flinders Street Station a couple of days ago, not seen her since though, think she’s been keeping her head down.”

“Sounds right, she’s gone missing for a reason, she’s been hiding for three months, sounds like she’s doing a good job, if ya see her again will ya pass my contact details on? Tell her she isn’t in trouble we just need to find her so we can get her some place safe yer.”

Passing over a sheet to each of them that had all the missing women’s pictures on and a few of her business cards they both agreed that they would keep their eyes open and if they saw any of them they would try to talk to them. They were good kids, they both had had a hard time growing up, dropped out of school and got into trouble a bit, but they were willing to work and did odd jobs to keep their heads above water. Franky took them both to get something to eat and gave them both a few dollars for their help.

“I’ll be back over here in a few days, might catch up with you both then yer?” Franky told them as she was heading off.

Franky headed over to King Street, if any of the women were trying to make money that was a good place to look, there were plenty of strip clubs that would give them work. She spent the next few hours going from club to club with no real luck although a couple of the girls she knew who worked in one of the clubs thought they recognised one of the women, Angie, but hadn’t seen her for a week. Franky was quite happy with her days work, she had possible sightings of two of the women that were missing, she was just pissed off that neither of them were Dana, still when Channing wanted an update they wouldn’t be lying when they said they had no news yet. She headed off home intending to go back the next week as long as Bea agreed to it.

\-------------------------------

On the drive over to St Kilda Bea decided that she would go over to The Sacred Heart Mission first, it wasn’t where she would usually start but this case had nothing usual about it, and they provided a bed for the night, any of the women who were trying to lay low may have at least been there at some point. Parking up she was just about to get out of the car when she received a text message from Allie,

**I understand you have to work babe. You better not break your promise though, stay safe, I love you too more than you will ever know x**

  
Once at the mission she found someone to speak to, explaining why she was there actually surprised that they were being very helpful, the guy recognised Dana as soon as he saw her picture, saying that she had been there two nights previously but that he hadn’t seen her since although he had recommended the new woman’s shelter to her so it was possible she had gone there he mused. Bea hadn’t heard from Kaz but it was possible that she had gone there, she’d call Kaz later she thought to herself. The guy had also recognised another of the women, Sarah, he said she’d been going there on and off for the last four weeks but he hadn’t seen her for the last four nights, handing over her business card he promised to call her if either of them turned up again. Bea thanked him as she was leaving promising to stop in again.

She didn’t want to put off calling Kaz so she went back to the car to make the call.

“Hey Bea, everything alright?”

“Hey Kaz, yer, I’ve just been to the mission in St Kilda and they have seen Dana, said they recommend the women’s shelter to her.”

“When was the last time she was there?”

“Two nights ago, chances are she’s going to turn up there sooner or later.”

“She hasn’t yet, I’m there tonight so I’ll keep my eyes open, you really think you will find her?”

“I hope so, don’t know what’s going to happen to her if we don’t.”

They said their goodbyes and she hung up, deciding that she would go over to the bar and see if any of the girls she knew were in there already. She had no luck there, no one recognised any of them and none of the girls were in. She spent the rest of the afternoon wondering from place to place with no more luck, she hadn’t seen any of the girls she knew and that was strange, it didn’t normally matter what time of day it was she would run into at least one of them. Just after four she decided that she was going to head home, it was pointless to carry on looking. Reaching her car she had to laugh to herself, before Allie she would have stayed out until the early hours if she had thought it would get results, now all she wanted to do was get home and spend the evening with her girlfriend. Now she actually understood why Franky wasn’t a fan of working late, well not unless Bridget was working a late shift at the hospital, Bea never quite understood how a psychologist would need to work late. Arriving home she decided to give Franky a call.

“Yo Red, any news?”

“Can you ever answer the phone like a normal person Franky? But yer I do have some news, Dana has been seen but not for two days, and Sarah but she’s not been seen for four days.”

“Really….Cindy’s been seen for sure, maybe Angie too. It’s going to work out Red, trust me I know it will.”

“I hope so, it’s not like there’s not enough shit to worry about, Jake Stewart and Harry’s trials are coming up.”

“Hey, stop worrying about that, can’t see them getting off, it’ll all work out, now get off the bloody phone.”

“Yer, whatever Franky, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yer and Red normal time, none of this early shit.”

  
When Allie arrived home Bea had been out of the shower for twenty minutes, she knew she was home and went straight to the kitchen knowing that was where she would most likely find her and she was right she found her sat at the table with a bottle of water, after giving her a quick kiss she went for a shower. Bea didn’t want to cook so waited for Allie to finish up so they could decide together what takeaway they both wanted.

After eventually deciding on a Chinese Allie placed their order and they settled down on the sofa waiting for their food to be delivered.

“Are ya starting work early again tomorrow?”

“Na, I doubt a Franky could handle another early start,” Bea laughed.

“She’s never struck me as an early riser.”

Turning on the tv they decided on a movie just as there was a knock on the door, Bea went to the door and Allie went to the kitchen to get a couple of beers, after plating their food up they took it back to the sofa so they could watch the movie while they ate. Dumping the dishes in the sink and getting another beer each Bea went back to the sofa, they stayed there for the rest of the evening cuddled up, Bea falling asleep not long after they had decided on another movie. Allie finished watching it although by the time it was over she was half asleep, waking Bea up and telling her to go to bed she locked up and followed her upstairs finding her still dressed laying on the bed fast asleep, pulling her shorts off she managed to get her into bed after a lot of complaints joining her a few minutes later and falling asleep cuddled up behind her.

The alarm going off that Saturday morning strangely woke Allie up but not Bea, after turning it off she lay there for a while looking at her, although she looked peaceful she still looked tired, she didn’t want to wake her but she knew she had to soon, deciding that she would leave her a little longer while she had a quick shower, when she went back to the bedroom Bea was awake.

“You should have woken me up.”

“You looked peaceful, and your just so cute when you’re sleeping I thought I’d leave you a little longer.”

“Guess I better get up.”

“And I better get dressed, then I’ll make breakfast while you take your sexy arse in the shower.”

“Can I just have coffee and toast?”

“You babe can have anything you want,” Allie giggled as she started to get dressed ready for work, “just get up and have a shower.”

After making coffee Allie waited for Bea before making her toast, sitting at the kitchen table she had to wonder why Bea had been so tired, she had started work a little earlier the previous day but she was home early, surly she shouldn’t have been that tired, shrugging her shoulders she decided that she was going to ask her about what was going on the next day, it was Sunday and they both had the day off. As soon as she heard Bea walking downstairs she put the toast on, she had her back to the door when when Bea entered the kitchen, she crossed the distance between them quickly and silently wrapping her arms round her girlfriends waist kissing her neck.

“I love you.”

“Hmmm, I know, and I love you too so much…..do you want anything with your toast?”

“You!”

“We don’t have time for that, later though, I promise.”

They ate their breakfast and planned what they were going to do the next day, they both knew that the morning would be mostly spent in bed and they had to do a grocery shop and the laundry, but they were planning on lounging around the house after that, Bea was glad she didn’t want to go anywhere, they needed to talk and she had to arrange a time with Franky to call round so they could both be there like they had agreed. She knew it probably wasn’t going to be an easy conversation but it had to be had, she felt bad enough already that she hadn’t told her the truth yet. Glancing at the time she jumped up, kissed Allie and headed for the door, completely forgetting that she had left her phone in the bedroom, she rushed out of the door and jumped in her car.

Allie did the dishes before before going out back to sit in the sun for a while before she had to go to work. A while later she went upstairs to get her phone that she had left on charge, noticing that Bea had left hers, grabbing it she decided to drop it off for her, she couldn’t possibly go the whole day without it she knew that.

Arriving outside their office twenty minutes later she walked in greeting Liz who told her that Bea was in her office. She walked in without knocking, closing the door behind her,

“Didn’t you forget something at home this morning?”

“Yer, you because I had to leave ya behind,” Bea grinned at her.

“Not me ya idiot, what are you missing?”

After checking her bag then her pockets she realised what she had forgotten,

“Shit…..I left my phone.”

“Good thing I brought it for ya then isn’t it?”

Getting up from her chair she closed the distance between them bringing her into a hug and kissing her softly on the lips.

“Your too good to me you know that?”

“Na, I just love ya…..I better get going or I’ll be late for work.”

Bea sighed, “ok, I’ll see ya later.”

Allie opened her office door just as Derek Channing walked in speaking to Liz, Allie went pale closing the door quickly.

“Allie….whats’s wrong?”

Bea could see how tense Allie was now looking,

“Why is that guy out there talking to Liz, have you got any idea what he does?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping the weather keeps me indoors tomorrow then I might make it three days in a row.


	71. Chapter 71

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I kind of lost my train of thought towards the end of this chapter but I wanted to get it finished, not sure if it's just the crappy weather or because I'm a little tired that my brain wondered off.

Bea still had her phone in her hand, she could only guess who Allie had just seen and the fear she saw in her eyes told her everything she feared, it had to be Channing and Allie knew him, not telling her sooner had been a mistake. Allie had moved from the door and was pacing Beas office. Bea gave Franky a quick call not wanting to leave Allie alone.

“Red! What the fuck?”

“Shut up Franky and just listen, keep Channing out of my office and get rid of him, you hear me?”

“Yer sure thing Red.”

Franky was confused, why the hell the phone call? They were only separated by a paper thin wall, she could have whispered and she would probably have heard her. Opening her office door Franky looked at Derek Channing, something was up, she glanced at Liz but saw nothing unusual in her demeanour, inching her way out of her office all the time looking around she could hear Bea talking to someone, “shit,” she thought to herself, Allie must have stopped in for something, she knew she had to get rid of him, they should have told Allie already, “fuck, think, think,” Franky internally chastised herself.

“Mr Channing.”

“Ms Doyle, is there any progress?”

“Mr Channing, this is an unscheduled meeting, and one neither I or my partner have time for at the moment, I can tell you that we have received information that your niece has been seen in Chinatown, but as you can appreciate, we need to make further enquiries and to do that we must have a chance to follow up on the information. I’m sorry I can tell you little else but that’s all we have, now if you wouldn’t mind, we were about to leave the office.”

“I see, Chinatown you say, thank you, I will call you on Monday morning, schedule a meeting if that’s alright.”

“That would be best.”

He turned and left the office, Franky released the breath she hadn’t realised she was holding, looking at Liz who just had no idea what was going on, he seemed nice enough to her, always polite and well spoken, and he was always smartly dressed, the way Franky had just spoken to him made no sense to her, not that she ever really knew what was going on, most of the time she didn’t want to know.

Knocking on Beas office door lightly before opening it she went in finding Allie pacing and Bea trying to talk to her. The only reason Franky could reason for her to be acting like that was if she had seen Channing and she knew him, he couldn’t have seen her though, nothing about their brief conversation had hinted that he was interested in anything other than Dana.

“Why are you two working for him? Have either of you any idea what he does? He takes girls off the streets, forces them to work, keeps them fucking prisoners.”

“Allie, please baby, this is not what you’re thinking.”

“Oh so now you’re a fucking mind reader are you Bea? You don’t know what I’m thinking or how I’m feeling, just as long as you’re working on a case and the sun rises and sets on plant Bea Smith then everything’s alright isn’t it?”

“Allie….” Bea sobbed, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

“Now hold on blondie, this ain’t Reds fault, sure the guy asked for help, but I knew something was off with him from the get go, and you know me I did some digging, we know all we need to know about the creep from the detective that has been investigating him, technically he still thinks we’re working for him.”

“Oh and that makes everything alright does it?”

“Na, nothin makes this shit alright, and you finding all this out like this is my fault, Red wanted to tell ya but I wanted to know what we were dealing with, we agreed to sit down with you tomorrow and tell you all this shit together so don’t be blaming her, if ya gotta blame anyone then it’s me. Fuck sake look at her, she’s a bigger mess than you are. She’s been fucked up all week since we found out that you knew Dana Malouf, she knew you needed to know.”

“Dana…..she was in prison last I heard.”

“Yer, and she got early parole, went missing and did a runner from that dickhead who came here saying she was his niece, now all of this shit is fucked up, but this is not the place for us to be having this conversation and you know it.”

“Yer, I’m sorry.”

“Na, not me you need to apologise to blondie, I’m gonna call Will, you can’t go to work like this.”

“No Franky you can’t he’s always giving me time off.”

“Not arguing over this,” Franky turned to leave the office, opening the door she turned, “think ya got some making up to do….oh, and, keep the noise down!” She said with a wink.

Bea was sitting in her chair, head in her hands sobbing uncontrollably, she hadn’t wanted her to find out like this, why had she thought for a second that keeping this from her was a good idea? And now she knew and she hated her, her world was crashing down around her. In her head Allie was going to leave, walk away without giving her a chance to explain, not that she thought she deserved any less, but she loved her, there was nothing without her, Harry’s words entering her thoughts again, ‘your worthless,’ ‘your nothing,’ ‘your ugly.’ It had all been too good to be true, how could someone like Allie want to be with her? She could do anything, be with anyone she wanted. She should never have allowed herself to fall for her, but once she started she couldn’t stop. She was so lost in her own head that she hadn’t noticed that Allie was now knelt on the floor right in front of her, one hand on her shoulder the other caressing her cheek, she had been there for five minutes before it registered.

“Bea…baby I’m sorry…please don’t cry.”

“Allie….I…I….”

  
“Baby, it doesn’t matter…..I love you…..please…look at me.”

Bea just couldn’t drag her hands away from her face, didn’t want to look at her, she was convinced that she was going to tell her that they were over, she was leaving, she was just saying what she thought she wanted to hear before she ripped her heart out and crushed it.

“Bea please.”

Wrapping her arms around her shoulders Allie pulled Bea towards her, resting her head on her shoulder so she could whisper in her ear.

“Bea…..I’m so sorry, seeing him standing there was a shock. I should have thought before I opened my mouth. Please baby, I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, I hate seeing you cry. Seeing him scared me, I don’t ever want to be reminded about before, my life was so shit before you, I would go to sleep every night hoping that I wouldn’t wake up the next day. Then you came into my life and for the first time in a very long time I felt safe, no one has ever loved me the way do, and I know I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you, your my everything, without you nothing makes sense. I love you so very much.”

Bea tried to pull away, wanted to prepare herself for what she still thought was coming but Allie wouldn’t let her go, the more she tried to pull away the tighter she held on. Her sobs eventually turned to a sniffle and she dropped her hands from her face still not wanting to look into those gorgeous blue eyes for fear of what she might see in them. Allie released her grip, pulling away only long enough to take both her hands in hers,

“You really don’t have any real idea what he’s capable of, and you should have told me about this as soon as you knew I knew Dana.”

“I…I…know, I got scared, when Franky showed me Dana’s arrest record and I saw you were a known associate and had been arrested with her I panicked, thought you would think I was looking into your past.”

“Maybe I should have told you I’d been arrested, but you knew everything about me, everything I’d done, I just assumed you would have guessed, you can’t really do what I did without the cops catching up with ya.”

“You….your not…leaving me?”

“What?.....leave you, why would you even think that?”

“Because I’m so fucking dumb, I should have told you what this case was about.”

“I’m pissed off with ya, I can’t lie about that, but I’m not leaving ya. We’ll get passed this, just don’t keep things from me anymore, I get why you did it, but if you had have told me I could have told you a lot of things I don’t think you know.”

Franky walked back in to Bea’s office,

“You two ok?”

“We will be, what do you want Franky?”

“We’re getting out of here, I called Will, he said to tell blondie that he was closing the bar today at two and not opening again until Monday so the contractors can finish fitting the bar out. And I’ve called Detective Ayoub, she’s gonna come over to yours around three. So come on, I don’t want to talk about this in the office, walls have ears ya know.”

\------------------------------

The three of them were sitting in the lounge, Franky explaining everything to Allie. Bea just sat watching her reaction, still unsure if what she had said in her office was the truth. Her memory of Harry’s words swimming round in her head from earlier on still leaving her doubting that Allie would want to stick around, she didn’t want to think about him, she wanted him out of her life for good but every now and again she could still hear him, damn Harry, he had terrorised and tormented her for too long and she still let him affect her, that only ever resulted in her getting angry at herself, he wasn’t there but he might as well still be. Her eyes however had never left Allie and she had seen nothing that suggested she would pack up and leave anytime soon. She was so distracted that she didn’t even hear Franky say she was going to go to the deli and get get them all some lunch.

“Hey Red, what ya gonna have?”

“Earth to Red…..”

“Huh, what…..sorry, was miles away.”

“Yer we could see that, I’m going to the deli what do ya want?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Course your not, I’ll just get your usual then.”

Franky left, on the drive over to the deli she couldn’t help but wonder what Allie knew about Derek Channing, did she know things the cops didn’t? It was possible, after all she had lived on the streets, not that Franky was going to hold her past against her, she’d made some pretty shit decisions herself in the past, she’d walked a fine line that could have seen her locked up or dead, pulling up at the deli she suddenly realised that she had to tell Bea what she had said to Channing. Getting out of the car she went inside, ordered what they usually had and a BLT for Allie, she wasn’t waiting long and before she knew it she was back at Beas. Walking into the house she found them both still on the sofa, Bea laying down with her head in Allies lap, Allie running her fingers through her soft curls.

“Fuck sake, Reds gonna fall asleep, she’s looking tired there.”

“Yer, she looked tired this morning and she was still asleep.”

“Excuse me, if you hadn’t both noticed I am right here, you could try talking to me instead of talking about me.”

“Yer, yer Red, get off ya arse and come and eat with us.”

They sat in the kitchen eating, Franky and Allie were actually eating, Bea was picking at hers and it wasn’t going unnoticed by Allie but for the time being she didn’t say anything.

“I told Channing that Dana had been seen in Chinatown, should keep him busy far enough away from where she really was last seen.”

“He won’t be looking for her himself Franky, shit have you not worked him out yet?”

“He’s a fucking creep what more is there?”

“You really have no idea, I’m not going through all this shit twice so your gonna have to wait till your detective arrives.”

\------------------------------

Just after three there was a knock on the door, Franky got up to answer it, showing Detective Ayoub through to the lounge. Franky and Bea filled her in on what they had found out and also about Channing just showing up at the office that morning. Bea told her that Allie had things she wanted to tell them, Allie was feeling nervous, she was going to have to tell them things that she really didn’t want to talk about, she was lucky that she hadn’t experienced Derek Channing and his associates first hand but she had heard about them. Bea saw her discomfort and took one of her hands in hers giving it a light squeeze. The detective looked over at Allie trying to place her, she was unsure how she could fit into this when she realised who she was.

“What, wait, Allie…..Allie Novak?”

“Yer, that’s me.”

“I don’t understand how you fit into all this, you seem to have turned your life around, your obviously not still out on the streets.”

I would be if it weren’t for Bea and Franky,” looking at Bea, “but mostly Bea….I was at the office this morning when Derek Channing showed up, I don’t think any of you know that much about him.”

“And you want to tell us?”

“No…..honestly I don’t, but I think I need to.”

This was going to be hard, she felt like she was being judged by the detective, more so when she saw her look at her and Beas joined hand.

“I need to just tell you this so I would appreciate it if you would all refrain from talking and let me finish.”

All three of them nodded and Allie took a deep breath.

“Derek Channing doesn’t do anything for himself, he is in charge but never gets his hands dirty. When I was out on the streets a lot of the new girls would go missing, the younger they were the more likely they were to go missing, and they were always the ones that weren’t doing drugs. He works with a woman called Joan Ferguson and she uses a heavy called Nils Jesper, everything she says he does. We all knew what was going on and most of us had seen a couple of the girls taken, when we asked questions Nils Jesper would pay us a visit and warn us to keep our mouths shut or he’d give us drugs to keep us quiet. I would never take what he offered, one girl that did overdosed on what he gave her. I don’t know if you know this or not but they have an illegal brothel just off Grey Street in St Kilda, I can show you where that is if you need to know. There’s two in Chinatown, I know there’s probably more but I can’t say where they are because I don't know, some of the girls down on Grey Street will know though.”

“How does Ferguson fit into this?”

“As far as I know she actually takes care of the brothels and the girls, actually she dosnt take any kind of care with them, more like keeps them locked up, fills them full of drugs to keep them compliant, I once saw her down on Grey Street, that was a long time ago though, I got the feeling that she was picking the girls out that she wanted.”

“If we were to arrange for a detective to take you over to St Kilda would you show them where the brothel is?”

“On one condition.”

“And that would be?”

“That Bea comes with me, I’m not going back there without her.”

The detective just nodded, “that can be arranged.” She said as she stood up to leave.

“I know you probably have more to tell me but I think that’s enough for today, you look like you need a break, and I need to look into what you have just told me, I’m assuming you won’t be leaving the area.”

“I’d say that’s not likely, unless Bea is going to kick me out.”

“I really had better be going now.”

Franky showed her to the door, returning to the lounge she found Allie wrapped in Beas arms sobbing, Franky knew she needed to leave them to it, Allie would have more to tell them she was sure of that, but she’d had enough for one day. Getting Beas attention she let her know that she was leaving telling her she’d check in at some point the next day. Franky wanted to get home and do more digging. She didn’t like anything Allie had said and she was worrying, how could looking for one missing woman turn into a whole shit storm, this didn’t look like it would or could end well. Although she was still hopeful that they would all get through it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try to get another chapter done for tomorrow.


	72. Chapter 72

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is the game almost over for Channing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, I've been so busy....I hate Christmas preparations...Bah Humbug!
> 
> And it's snowing again, that's really not helping my mood.
> 
> Also apologies there really isn't too much Bea and Allie in this chapter.

Allie woke up Monday morning still feeling tired and completely drained, Bea was just worried, not only did they have to keep working the case but today was the start of Jake Stewart’s trial. She couldn’t help but wonder what he thought he was going to gain by not pleading guilty, she had seen the list of witnesses for the prosecution, of course Harry was on the list, that fucker would try anything to try a make himself look like the victim in this, that he was innocent and had been made to deal drugs in the prison, no one would ever make him do something he didn’t want to do at least not unless they were twice his size, and she knew him better than anyone, Harry Smith did not do anything that he didn’t want to do. Allie had dragged herself out of bed and gone to the kitchen returning a short time later with coffee and toast, passing the tray over to Bea as she slipped back into bed beside her.

“You look worried, want to talk about it?”

“There’s just too much happening at once, and you didn’t need dragging into this.”

“I was hardly dragged into anything, and I want to help if I can.”

  
Bea arrived at the office really not in the mood to work, she wanted an end to all of the shit and soon. “Fuck this,” she thought to herself picking her car keys back up, she was just walking out of her office when Franky and Liz were on their way in.

“Where ya off to Red?”

“Out….I’ll be back later.”

The drive over to St Kilda didn’t take too long, parking in the small carpark that belong to the hotel where she stayed with Allie she went inside, relieved that it was the owner sitting behind the desk reading a magazine.

“Bea, how is everything? How’s that young woman doing that stayed here?”

“Things are crazy….Allie’s doing good, working in a bar right now.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Oh come on Bea, how long have we known each other? I could tell ya liked her when I saw ya together.”

“Ok, ok I give in, we’re together alright? That’s not what I came here to talk about.”

“So what can I help ya with?”

“I heard there was an illegal brothel round here, don’t suppose you have any idea where that is?”

“Seriously…..everyone knows where it is, but why the interest in that place? Is this for a case?”

“Why else would I want to know?”

“Give me a minute, let me call my son, you remember David right? He might be able to help you out more than I can.”

Bea leaned on the wall and waited until she had finished on the phone, after hanging up she let her know that her son would be over in fifteen minutes. They chatted for a little while she waited the main topic of conversation being Debbie and how well she was doing at university, and a few cheeky questions about how she got together with Allie and what they had been up to. Bea didn’t really want to talk about Allie, not that she wasn’t a regular favourite topic of conversation with most people but being back in that hotel remembering everything they had gone through together to get to where they were now it didn’t feel right. Bea was relieved when David arrived, she looked him up and down and he laughed,

“Ya aren’t seeing things, I am all grown up now.”

“No kidding, you were a skinny, stroppy teenager the last time I saw you, what happened?”

“Three years in the army is what happened, but that’s not what ya wanna talk about, shall we go over to the café across the street?”

Bea just nodded and followed him out side and across the street, she sat at a table right at the back while he went to get coffee. They made small talk for a while until Bea finally got round to what she needed help with. He explained everything he knew about the brothel and surprisingly to her he knew all about Derek Channing and Joan Ferguson. He wanted to help anyway he could as long as it didn’t involve having to actually enter the premises. Bea certainly didn’t want anyone going in there, she asked if he’d go back to the office with her. He agreed without hesitation, after leaving the army he’d been doing security work and he was so bored with it, on the drive back to the office he’d asked how he could get licensed to do what they did and Bea had been happy to tell him which gave her an idea, one that she would have to run past Franky before she did anything.

Liz looked up from her magazine when she heard the door open seeing Bea walk in with a tall very muscular young man as they both walked over to Franky’s office door, Bea tapped on the door before opening it and walked in closing the door behind them. Now Liz was even more confused, this case was confusing the hell out of her and no one was telling her anything, not that she needed to know but they normally bounced ideas off her.

Franky had her chair turned away from her desk and was facing the window, when she heard the door close she spun her chair round only seeing Bea at first,

“Hey Red, where’d ya……..shut up, that’s not…..no I can’t be……little David, is that really you?”

“Sup Franky, yer it’s me, surprised?”

“Hell yer!”

“Franky, David wants to help us out, he’s local, no ones going to give him a second look.”

“Yer, but what’s he going to help with?”

  
“Fuck sake, David tell her what ya told me.”

“No worries. So you’re trying to get evidence on Derek Channing and ‘the freak’.”

“I’m sorry…who?”

“Joan Ferguson, she’s known as ‘the freak’ locally, anyway, Bea was telling me about this missing person case yer, well I know that Derek Channing and Joan Ferguson will both be at the brothel tonight, it’s Monday, she hands over his share of the takings on a Monday. Joan is actually in charge of the brothels, not sure how many there are but I know it’s more than half a dozen scattered all over Melbourne. I had a ex army buddy who used to do security for Channing, he went missing a few months ago, right after that that guy, Nils Jesper, took over security, but he was around before that mainly persuading girls off Grey Street to work in the brothel, although I reckon he used a lot more than just persuasion. I’ve seen him giving the girls a hard time. Rumour has it that a couple of the girls have gone missing and Ferguson is the reason, one of the girls got away and she said that she beat them if they weren’t bringing enough money in. I don’t know how much help I can be but I could be your eyes and ears on the ground, I don’t look out of place cos I live there.”

“Shit, this sounds worse than what Allie was telling us….would you speak to the detective we’re working with on this?”

“Sure, anything I can do I’ll do it.”

A short while after Franky had called Detective Ayoub they were sat in Franky’s office the detective still trying to believe that David could know more about Channings movements than she did. She knew she had to make a move to get the evidence that they needed and they still had the problem of Dana and the other missing women, but if they could get Channing and Ferguson out of the picture maybe the women would come out of hiding. Liz knocking on the door brought silence to the room until Franky finally told her to “come in,” informing her that Channing was on the phone she asked her to put the call through. She spoke with him for a few minutes trying to keep her cool, knowing everything she now did it was a struggle to be polite, arranging a meeting for Thursday afternoon she hung up.

After another hour and a few phone calls they were set for what was going to happen later, Bea and Franky were to be kept in the loop but were not going to be any part of it, something that brought great relief to Bea, at least she would be at home with Allie. David left the office with the detective after they had arranged to meet the following day away from the office, now things seemed to be progressing they all felt that it was better that way.

Arriving home Bea received a call from Kaz to tell her there has still been no sign of Dana at the shelter and also that Jake Stewart had changed his plea to guilty and that his sentencing would be held in three weeks time. Bea had been a little pleased after hearing that, she knew Harry would be pissed, he wasn’t going to get his chance to act like he was hard done by, a victim of the system that he had to live under, she silently laughed to herself imagining him throwing a fit when he found out he wouldn’t be giving evidence.

\------------------------------

The detectives car rolled to a stop parking in the shadows just metres from the entrance to the brothel round the corner from Grey street, David in the back seat, Detective Ayoub in the drivers seat and a Detective known only as Vince in the passenger seat. That was the way he liked it no need for his full name he was just Vince. It was nearing midnight and David pointed out a window at the front of the building that was in complete darkness, from his now missing friend he had learnt that it was the office and only two people ever entered that room, Channing and ‘the freak’, it was kept locked for reasons that would eventually become apparent, but right then no one was any wiser. At exactly midnight a dark coloured car pulled up outside the brothel, Vince sprang into action, aiming his camera lens at the car, the occupant didn’t seem to be in any hurry to exit the vehicle, they didn’t even seen that concerned about being seen having parked directly under a street light. As the sole occupant of the car opened the door to get out it was clear that it was Derek Channing, he got out, didn’t bother to lock it and went straight into the brothel. After a couple of minutes the light in the darkened room flicked on and two people could clearly be seen standing just a couple of feet from the window, Channing and ‘the freak’, Vince was still preoccupied with his camera, the car was silent except for the clicking of the camera. They could clearly see from where they were sat the envelope exchange hands then a few seconds later the light flicked off. Nils Jesper exited the building, standing outside just looking up and down but not once noticing the car the three of them were sitting in. He was followed out a few moments later by Derek Channing, they exchanged a few words before Channing went back to his car and drove off. Jesper disappeared back inside the building, much to David’s relief.

Vince was pleased with what he had captured, Channing couldn’t say that he wasn’t visiting an illegal brothel now, and although right then they had no proof what the envelope contained he had been seen accepting it. Vince looked over at Detective Ayoub and nodded, starting the car she drove away, dropping David just round the corner from his home reminding him where they were meeting the following day.

\------------------------------

Bea and Franky arrived at the diner across town the following lunch time finding David already waiting for them at a table in a quiet corner, they had never been to this diner before and judging by the number of cops that were in there it seemed like the detective had not chosen the place by accident. Taking a seat across from David they were approached by the waitress, both ordering coffee and a burger and fries they waited for Detective Ayoub to make her appearance. They had just received their food when she entered the diner, looking around until she spotted them, on her way over she laughed and joked around with a few of the cops before reaching where they were sitting.

“So……did ya get anything last night?” Franky asked impatiently.

“We certainly did, Channing can hardly deny being there, the guy actually is stupid, he arrived in his own car, we have photographic evidence of everything we were able to see.”

“What will happen now?” Bea asked.

“As his Monday night meetings happen weekly and always at the same place it’s been decided that we’re going to raid the place next Monday once he’s inside. In the mean time we really need to find out where the rest of the brothels are. David has plenty of contacts and has offered to help with that. We need you to keep investigating the missing women, it’s really important now that we don’t just focus on Dana.”

“We still have to meet with Channing on Thursday, I know it’s true that we haven’t actually come up with anything concrete but I think he’s getting suspicious, damn sure he’ll have had people all over Chinatown looking for her.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second Franky, but we all know just because someone has been seen they will be easy to find.”

“So we just tell him a load of crap?”

“You tell him whatever you feel is best, after next Monday I’m hoping you won’t need to worry about him, we have people keeping an eye on the place now 24/7.”

After another hour of discussing everything Detective Ayoub left, leaving Bea, Franky and David chatting.

“Bea told me that you were asking about getting licensed as a private investigator, are you really interested?”

“Yes, even more so now, security work is fine, I work regular hours but it’s always the same. After three years in the army I’m so bored, makes me wish I had stayed.”

“If your really serious we have a properersition for ya, we need someone we can rely on to work with us, neither of us can do loads of late nights, the other halves don’t like it, anyway we want to pay for your course in investigative services then ya can get your license, it’s win win no matter how ya look at it, you get a job that’s more interesting, well most of the time, and we get someone we can trust to work with us, and get the girlfriends off our backs.”

David sat quietly for a moment trying to gather his thoughts.

“That’s sounds great, but I can pay for the course myself……hang on wait….girlfriends?”

He looked at Bea with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

“Na…..I…I just never thought…..when do I get to meet her?”

“Oh god,” Bea sighed, “I’ll have to ask her.”

“Yer well don’t leave it too long…..I knew there was something different about ya, just never guessed it was a someone and not a something.” He laughed.

Leaving the diner Bea and Franky went back to the office, they needed to discuss what they were going to do the next day. Almost as soon as they were seated in Beas office her mobile rang Kaz’s name flashing up, on the screen.

“Hi Kaz,”

“Bea, I’ve got Dana sitting here with me right now and she wants to talk to you.”

“What? Wait…she wants to talk?”

“Yes, she really could use some rest right now, could you come over tomorrow?”

“Yes, not a problem, what time would be best?”

“After lunch, its usually quiet round here then.”

“Wait, did you tell her we were looking for her?”

“No, she walked in here a couple of hours ago, she’d been to the mission last night and I guess it must have been the same guy you spoke to who told her, she said he gave her your details but she was scared to call you herself so he brought her over and left her with me. We chatted and I mentioned Allie…..and well they used to be friends ya know so she asked me to call ya.”

“Tell her I’ll, be there after two tomorrow, we’ve got a lot to get done.”

“Sure no problem.”

Franky was sitting forward in her seat listening to Bea, guessing that it could only be about Dana, as soon as she hung up Bea told her that it was Dana who had finally turned up and that she would be seeing her tomorrow.

“Well you deal with that, I’m gonna call Linda, see if she would be willing to help me out for a few hours, this bloody case better be worth it…..we ain’t gettin paid for this one we both know that.”

“Yer, typical ain’t it? We take on a case and the person we’re working for is in it right up to their neck, look at it this way, it’s been an experience.”

“Yer…..not one I want to repeat in a hurry.”

Franky called Linda who agreed to help out, it was her day off the next day and she had nothing planned. They both finished up what they were doing, Franky finding out the next course in investigative services started in a month so needed to get David enrolled on it as soon as possible and Bea finished up writing the case notes so far before checking her email.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really will try and get another chapter done as soon as I can, I've got loads to do today but I'll try and get some writing done, I really only have Friday and Sunday free, and that could change at the last minute.
> 
> PS. Payback will soon be on the way chuck ;)


	73. Chapter 73

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time got away from me yesterday so I couldn't get this posted as I had expected to.

Bea was staying in the office while Franky and Linda went back out to the CBD, she didn’t really have anything to do after checking her emails. She’d tried having a light conversation with Liz but that hadn’t gone to plan, Liz started asking too many questions about the case and Bea knew she couldn’t discuss it with her, she hated having to keep things from her but Liz seemed to have taken a liking to Derek Channing, she could only hope that after the next week she wouldn’t have to keep hiding things from her, having Liz to talk to had always been helpful in the past but now it was just aggravating her, she poured herself a coffee before she stomped back to her office. She sat in her chair with her feet up on her desk trying to wish the rest of the week away. She wondered how Allie was going to take the news when she could tell her that Dana was safe, Bea hadn’t met her yet but she was sure she wasn’t going to like her too much. Allie had told her a little more about her and she sounded like she was willing to do almost anything during the time they had hung out together while they were on the streets, she had told her a few stories that had made Bea cringe, and even though Allie had assured her that she had never let herself be talked into going along with Dana most of the time she couldn’t help but wonder and worry that Allie wasn’t telling her everything. But that was in the past, Allie had done nothing to make her think that she wanted to go back to that life, she was so happy and carefree now that she couldn’t entertain half of the things that ran through her mind.

Her phone ringing dragged her back to reality, Franky’s name on the screen making her groan internally.

“Hey Franky, what’s up?”

“Just checking in, and we found out where one of the other brothels is.”

“You’ve only been out an hour, how’d ya manage that?”

“Nothin to do with me, Linda’s still got contacts, anyway this one is on Berkeley Street, you’d walk straight past it and never know what it was.”

“Should have asked Linda to help before now.”

“Yer, tell me about it, better go, laters Red.”

  
It was just gone two that afternoon when Bea pulled up outside the shelter, getting out of the car she grabbed her phone from her pocket and called Kaz letting her know she was outside, that was something else that was getting on her nerves, having to wait outside who did Kaz think she would bring with her? Following Kaz down the same dimly lit hallway they arrived at the office, stepping inside she came face to face who she guessed must be Dana, around the same age as Allie, a few inches taller than her with long dark hair and deep brown eyes, the way her gaze fell on Bea unsettled her more than a little. Taking a seat she tried to shake the feeling off, she had once been Allie’s friend and she was meant to be helping her. Dana’s eyes never left Bea for a second even when Kaz spoke to her, she answered but her eyes were firmly fixed on the redhead.

Kaz poured them all a coffee, Bea’s discomfort was not lost on her, she had seen the way she was looking at her and she needed to try and ease the tension, she could have kicked herself, maybe she had really said too much when she had brought Allie into the conversation the previous day, she hadn’t exactly told her that Allie and Bea were together but she must have put two and two together. Eventually Kaz got Dana’s attention and swung the conversation onto the topic that they were supposed to be discussing. Four hours later Bea finally had the whole story, of course they had had to go the long way to get to what had happened and Bea was exhausted, glancing at the clock on the wall she jumped up, told Kaz that she had to get home and that she could find her own way out. She almost ran out of the building, jumping in her car she just sat there for a few minutes. Remembering she had put her phone on silent before she had gone in she pulled it out of her pocket finding two missed calls and three texts from Allie,

**Do you have to work late x**

**Bea is everything ok? I’ll start dinner don’t be too late x**

**Bea you’re scaring me now, what’s wrong? Please answer me x**

Noticing the time of the last text was only five minutes ago she decided it was best to call.

“Bea, where are you?”

“I’m sorry, I was in a meeting I didn’t realize the time, I’m on my way home now.”

“You scared the shit out of me when ya didn’t answer.”

“I’m sorry, I should have let you know I was going to be late.”

“Well yer you should have, but it doesn’t matter, you were in a meeting it’s not like you can just drop everything to call me.”

“I didn’t think it would take this long, I’ll be home soon, I love you.”

“Glad to hear it, and babe….I love you too.”

Putting her phone away she started the car and drove home, Allie didn’t sound mad at her, at least she hoped she wasn’t, finally pulling into the drive she saw Allie stood at the door waiting for her, she took a deep breath before getting out, she had to be mad why else would she be waiting at the door?

“I’m really sorry I didn’t realize it was this late.”

“I was getting worried, you never said you had a meeting this morning.”

“I didn’t expect it to take more than a couple of hours, thought I’d have been home well before you were.”

Reaching the door Allie took her by the hand leading her into the kitchen, dinner was almost ready, she made her sit down before she got her a beer from the fridge and passed it over to her,

“You look like you could use one.”

“Yer I think you're right.”

Bea felt on edge the whole evening, she really hadn’t liked the way Dana had stared at her, she made her really uncomfortable, she was glad when Allie fell asleep cuddled into her side while they were watching tv. Admittedly Allie had made her feel a little uncomfortable at first when she would stare at her, but this was a whole new feeling and she couldn’t shake it. Eventually she woke Allie up and told her to go to bed, after a few minutes she got up and locked the house up before following her upstairs finding her already in bed asleep.

\-------------------------------

Derek Channing was due to arrive at the office within the next five minutes, they had agreed what they were going to tell him and now they were just sitting in Beas office, neither Bea or Franky spoke, they didn’t want to be in the same room as him but it would have made him more suspicious of them than they guessed he already was if they had cancelled this meeting. Five minutes felt like hours in the silence of Beas office, it was suddenly broken when they heard Liz speaking to someone, when they heard a mans voice reply they just looked at one another, hearing Liz’s voice getting closer to the door, her tap on the door made them both jump. Composing themselves just in time before she opened the door,

“Mr Channing to see you both….can I get anyone a coffee?”

Bea and Franky both shook their heads.

“Thank you Liz, but I really wouldn’t want to put you to any trouble, and besides I really don’t have the time.” Channing replied as he walked into the office taking a seat next to Franky.

“Ladies, do you have anything more concrete to tell me?”

Franky rolled her eyes as she eyed Bea, she knew that look.

“As I’m sure Franky told you we had been informed that she had been seen in Chinatown, we have since conducted extensive enquiries in the area and have found no trace of her. That’s not to say that she hasn’t been there, maybe we just missed her before she moved on.”

“So you use unreliable informants, is that what you are telling me?” He half shouted.

“Not at all Mr Channing, and if you wouldn’t mind keeping your voice down I would greatly appreciate it, I’m sure you don’t want anyone outside this office to hear our conversation. Now as I was going to say we have many reliable informants, they have helped us find many missing people. As we needed to stay in the office this afternoon for this meeting we have been unable to follow up a few new sightings of her all in the area of Frankston, and as you can appreciate we would much rather be out there rather than sitting here but since you requested a meeting at this time of day we felt obliged to acquiesce with your wishes.”

“Hmmm, yes I see your point, it was rather foolish of me to request a meeting in the middle of your working day, for that I apologise.”

“Your words Mr Channing not mine, but yes it was foolish, I don’t know what else we could possibly tell you at this moment, may I suggest that you make an appointment with Liz, possibly for next Friday, say 9am, of course we hope to have found her by then.”

He just looked at Bea, he had nothing to say. Of course it was a lie, Dana had never been anywhere near Frankston all the time she had been missing, it was what they had come up with and Franky had called Detective Ayoub to fill her in on what they were going to tell him, it kept his attention well away from where she really was. They were both hoping that he wouldn’t be available to keep his next appointment, as long as everything went to plan he should be more than a little preoccupied. When he left the office after making an appointment for the following week he had gone straight to his car and called Nils Jesper, they had no idea who he was calling but he was on their CCTV making a call as soon as he reached his car. Back at the brothel in St Kilda Jesper was seen leaving the building while talking to someone on his phone. Everything was falling into place for the detective especially as Jesper had been followed straight over to Frankston after taking that phone call.

\------------------------------

All too soon it was Monday afternoon, neither Franky or Bea had left the office the entire day, both of them were on edge. Detective Ayoub had called Franky to let them know that a total of eight illegal brothels had been uncovered it hadn’t been difficult to uncover there whereabouts with the help Linda and David had provided, Jesper had been tailed since the previous Tuesday, the guy either thought he was untouchable or just really dumb since he had visited each brothel on Sunday evening leaving all but the one in St Kilda with a large envelope.

They left the office at four leaving Liz to lock up.

“You told blondie that you’re coming back to the office at eleven yet?”

“No, have you told Bridget?”

“I said I needed to come back after dinner, didn’t tell her what time after dinner.”

They both headed home. In the last couple of weeks Bea had only been late home once, and that had been because of Dana who she hadn’t seen since and didn’t really care to see again. Kaz had called a couple of times, the first to let her know that the guy from the mission had also dropped Sarah off, Bea had made an excuse not to go over and speak to her. The second time she called was just to let her know that both women were still there, they had both wanted to leave but she had convinced them that is was a bad idea. Bea had no intention of going back to the shelter but had told Kaz that she would just to get her off her back.

As soon as she stepped in the house Bea had almost thrown herself on the sofa, every possible scenario about the upcoming events playing out in her head and only one had a somewhat jubilant ending. After taking a shower she started on dinner, she’d already planned what to tell Allie, she only hoped that she would sound convincing.

Allie arrived home at her usual time, the smell of food cooking dragging her straight to the kitchen, finding Bea slumped over a pile of paperwork that she had had brought home with her.

“So now you’re bringing your work home with ya?”

“Just some stuff I needed to read, didn’t have time today, why don’t you jump in the shower, I’ll put this away and finish dinner.”

Allie just shrugged and headed upstairs, Bea had seemed distracted since the night she was late home and she didn’t know why, she wasn’t shutting her out but she also wasn’t telling her something that much she knew for sure. It had to have something to with Dana or Channing she figured. She didn’t want to push her so was trying to wait until Bea was ready to tell her what was eating at her, her own insecurities building up in her head, was knowing more about her past coming between them? Did Bea actually not want her around anymore? She tried not to think about it and when she was a work it wasn’t difficult but as soon as she got home it was there in the forefront of her mind. After showering and getting dressed she went back to the kitchen to find Bea plating up their food, she sat at the table just as Bea passed her a plate, grabbing her own she sat across from her.

“I need to go back to the office later.”

“What? Why?”

“We had some information about where Dana is, we have to follow it up, she seems rather reluctant to be seen during the day.”

“Yer I guess she would, I never did.” She responded as she looked down at the plate in front of her.

“Hey, it’s just tonight I promise, I shouldn’t be gone more than a couple of hours.”

“I get it, she’s your priority right now.”

Looking across the table at Allie, seeing how deflated she looked she pushed her chair back and walked round to her pulling her into a hug.

“She’s not my priority, she’s just work, it’ll only be tonight. If it makes you feel any better I really don’t want to go back, I’d much rather stay here with you, but I told Franky I would, she’d kill me if I say I’m not going now, I’m here for a few hours, I don’t have to get back until eleven.”

“Any idea what time you’ll be back?”

“Hopefully no later than two.”

\------------------------------

Bea got back to the office a little after eleven finding Franky and David were already there, since David had helped they wanted him to be there when they found out how things had gone. There were going to be eight simultaneous raids on the brothels, Detective Ayoub had managed to get the teams together right at the last minute, her boss wasn't happy about using so many resources on a case that had been dragging on but when she had presented him with all the evidence they had collected over a week he had eventually conceded and given the go ahead for the operation. It was now a waiting game, Franky was filling David in on the course in investigative services that he wanted to do, filling out all the forms that were necessary and Bea had convinced him to let them pay for it, not because they had to but because they wanted him to become a part of their team, and he could help out with certain things while he was doing his course, “call it on the job training,” Franky had joked.

As it neared midnight the three of them could do nothing but sit and wait,

“You sure he shows up every Monday night?”

“Well technically Bea its Tuesday morning, but yer he does, always the same time just after midnight.”

None of them spoke after that, David sat sipping on a coffee, Franky sat on the corner of Liz’s desk swinging her leg and Bea just paced back and forth. It started to feel like time was standing still, Bea had contemplated removing the clock from the wall, eventually deciding against it even though she couldn’t stop glancing at it every couple of minutes. Franky’s phone ringing in the almost silent office made all three of them jump, pulling herself together she quickly answered it hearing the words they had all been waiting for.

“Channing, Ferguson and Jesper are in custody.”

“You got them, all three of them?”

“They had no escape, Channing tried to get out the back but we had the place surrounded, he had no where to go.”

“Thank fuck for that, so it’s over?”

“Not quite, I call you tomorrow and arrange a time to meet, you all deserve to know what we find, it’s going to be a long night for us.”

After hanging up the three of them were relieved, how the hell did a simple missing person turn into something that fucked up? At least for now it was over. It wasn’t until they had received that news that Bea had suddenly remembered, Harry had been due in court for the start of his trial. She couldn’t start thinking about that now, all she wanted to do was get back home. After washing their coffee mugs they locked up and all headed for home.

Allie was in bed when Bea arrived home just a little after one, as she crawled into bed she hadn’t noticed that Allie was still awake until she turned over,

“How did it go?”

“Better than expected, but why are you still awake?”

“Couldn’t sleep, the beds too empty without you in it with me.”

“Yer, well I’m here now.”

Allie snuggled in closer to her, resting her head on Bea’s chest she yawned, everything felt exactly as it should now, she was too tired to ask anymore questions and they were both soon asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today is looking like a busy day since I'll be spending half my day with five of my nieces and nephews, typical I have to keep the under tens occupied!   
> I have made a start on the next chapter and will post it as soon as I can.


	74. Chapter 74

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late posting, I blame six hours of wrapping presents yesterday!

Bea hadn’t slept well, she had fallen asleep quite easily but kept waking up, she had to tell Allie the truth, she knew she would probably take the news that Channing was now in police custody quite well, but how would she react when she told her that she had known where Dana was for a week and hadn’t said anything? Around 5am she gave in trying to get back to sleep, reaching over to the clock she turned off the alarm. Allie was still fast asleep her head still resting on her chest, their arms still around one another. Part of her never wanted her to wake up, if they could stay as they were for the rest of the day she would be more than happy, but real life and work got in the way of that. Still she at least intended to stay as they were until Allie woke up.

A little before six Allie opened her eyes and smiled, it seemed that neither of them had moved during the night, pulling Bea in as close as she could she closed her eyes again.

“Are you awake Alliecat?”

“Hmmm, yer.” She breathed.

“I need to talk to you, but I need you to listen to me before you say anything.”

“I’m listening.”

“Last night I was at the office, we weren’t going out to look for Dana though. Detective Ayoub needed us to be in the office because they were raiding all the illegal brothels, Derek Channing, Joan Ferguson and Nils Jesper were all arrested and as far as I know they are still in police custody. I couldn’t tell you this before but Dana is at the women’s shelter that Kaz works at. When I was late home last week it wasn’t just because of a meeting, I was at the shelter talking to Dana, she asked for me to go over there, unfortunately when I got there she didn’t actually seem to want to talk that much and time got away from me, I couldn’t tell you I knew where she was until Channing was out of the way, I didn’t want to keep it from you but I had to, I couldn’t let him find out where she was.”

“So Dana’s safe?”

“Yes, but you do understand why I couldn’t tell you don’t you?”

“I guess, you’re not keeping anything else from me are ya?”

“No…..Dana wants to see you though.”

“Would you be ok with that? I mean if I went to see her?”

“I don’t control you Allie, you can go and see who you please.”

“You don’t like her much do you?”

“I don’t know her, but she makes me feel uncomfortable.”

“What….like I made you feel uncomfortable?”

“No, no….you only made me feel uncomfortable because you made me feel things I never had before. She really makes me uncomfortable, I don’t know, it’s like her eyes just stare straight through me…..fuck I can’t explain it.”

  
“I think I will go and see her, not today though…..I guess she’s changed a lot, she’s been in prison that has to make a person change doesn’t it?”

“I don’t know, I guess it would, some people probably leave worse than they went in, it can’t be an easy place to be.”

“Did you think I was going to be mad at you for not telling me?”

“You have every right to be really, I lied to you, I hated doing it but I had to.”

“Hmmm……I might not like it but I understand why you had to do it….would you come with me?”

“Huh…..to see Dana? Allie…I….is that what you want?”

“Yer, I mean she’s probably still the same as she was back when I last saw her…..I’m not, she could always be so persuasive, and I know you’ll say I’m stronger than I used to be but I’m not sure I really trust myself……I don’t want to fuck things up.”

They lay in bed for a while in silence just holding each other, it was as if they were both afraid to let go. Beas phone ringing broke the silence like a falling glass shattering as it hit the floor, before Bea had even moved it stopped ringing only to start again a few seconds later. After untangling themselves Bea sat up and grabbed her phone.

“Franky, what the fuck, what time do ya call this?”

“Time to get your hands off blondie and listen up.”

“Fuck off Franky, I’m listening, this better be good.”

“You wanna know this, Channing and Ferguson aren’t saying jack, got their solicitors straight onto it and so far have given ‘no comment’ interviews. Jesper didn’t give a shit about legal representation he’s fucking singing like a canary. Ain’t no way they aren’t getting charged, oh yer and Detective Ayoub wants to meet at the office around ten.”

“You had to call this early to tell me?”

“Shit Red I thought you’d be pleased.”

“I am…..I’ll see you later Franky.”

\------------------------------

Franky and Bea had been in the office for over half an hour before Liz arrived, she knew something was going on from the second she walked in, they had been so secretive over the past couple of weeks she didn’t want to ask, eventually curiosity had got the better of her that morning and she hadn’t expected to hear what they were telling her. Derek Channing arrested, his niece wasn’t his niece, she was an ex inmate.

“No love, you must be mistaken.”

“There’s no mistake Liz, he was arrested last night.”

After pouring herself a coffee she had sat at her desk her mind racing, they were only telling her all this now. After eventually explaining the whole thing she understood why they had kept it from her, it hadn’t been because they wanted to it was only through necessity that they had. She was the first person he saw every time he went to the office, and she knew herself if she had have known she would have said something wrong in the end and probably blown the whole case. He had always seemed so charming and polite to her, “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” she thought to herself.

Bea and Franky had retreated to Beas office, Franky playing some game or other on her phone and Bea checking her emails as they waited for the detective to arrive. It was unexpected when David arrived, telling Liz that she didn’t need her to show him to Beas office, Detective Ayoub had called him and asked him to be there. Entering the office Franky looked round and just went back to her phone so he just sat down. Twenty minutes later the detective arrived, Liz knocked on the door before entering and telling them the detective had arrived, she was just about to leave when Bea told her to sit. Before anyone could protest Bea said that they never had any secrets in their office, all three of them had input on any case they handled and now Liz needed to hear the whole story. The detective had reluctantly agreed after realizing that Bea would not be persuaded otherwise.

Jesper had filled in all the missing pieces and was still talking, he may have played the role of hard man perfectly but when it came down to it he was scared to death of going to prison, he would do time but his continued cooperation would eventually mean he would get a much lighter sentence. They had taken him back to the office at the brothel and he had shown them were the safe was. Ferguson had been meticulous in her record keeping, every penny in and out of the brothels had been recorded as had every girl who had ever worked in any of them, it was all laid out in precise detail, penned by her own hand, she was in it way over her head.

Some of the facts that had been discovered were a little hard to swallow, even for the detective, she had heard first hand from Jesper the depths of Ferguson’s depravity, recounting how she had beaten most of the girls if they had spoken out of line, questioned her in anyway or refused to do something. He had witnessed with his own eyes how she had beaten two of the girls so badly that they were barely alive by the end of it and then tasked him to remove them from the premises and dump them. She dealt with most issues that would arise and her go to idea of keeping everything running as she expected it to was to keep the girls doped up, that way they wouldn’t question her. There had been countless overdoses, most of the girls had already been dead by the time they were found, but on one occasion a girl was still alive, Jesper had told them that it was before he took charge of security, the guy before him, and David’s friend, had been told to get rid of her. He couldn’t do it, she was still alive and he had taken her to the hospital, he had gone missing two days later after Channing had found out what he had done.

After three hours of hearing everything down to the last detail they were exhausted. It was lunch time and they needed to get out of the office, after the detective left the four of them decided that they would get something to eat, not that any of them had any real appetite, the change of scenery was more welcomed than food, some things they had been told were so graphic that the mere thought of food made them feel sick. They had made there way over to the diner all of them just having coffee and a sandwich that was hardly touched by anyone except David, he said he had seen and heard far worse during his time in the army. An hour later it was decided that they were going to close the office for the rest of the day. Bridget had the day off and Franky just wanted to go home after everything they had heard, not that Bea could blame her for that she was desperate to see Allie, even though she had been out of that life for a while she couldn’t believe how easy it would have been for her to have ended up as one of those girls, and given her past drug habit combined with her feisty streak she didn’t doubt that she would never have made it out alive. Liz offered to stay on at the office for an hour, they did have a couple of new clients coming in for their first meetings that afternoon so she would call them and rearrange their appointments before she locked up. They had walked over to the diner so had to go back to the office to get their cars, Franky going straight home and Bea heading for the bar.

Arriving at the bar she headed round to the back doors since the rest of the bar was still being renovated, Shane spotted her letting her know that Allie was in the office doing the orders, he said Will wouldn’t mind her going through but she didn’t want to disturb her if she was busy. Taking a seat at the bar she ordered a whisky, after hearing everything she had she needed a drink. The bar was really quiet, only a couple of regulars were in, apart from the noise the contractors were making it felt peaceful. Shane slid the glass across the bar to her, picking up the glass she swirled the whisky in the glass listening to the ice cubes clinking against the glass, breathing in the aroma of its contents, she was just about to take a drink when Allie appeared back behind the bar walking in her direction. Already the thoughts that had been tormenting her started to fade, the case was over, albeit not ending the way they had first expected it would, but it was over and the most gorgeous women in the bar was standing right in front of her.

“Rough morning?” Allie asked looking her straight in the eye.

“Yes, the worst, but it’s over now.”

“And your sitting here drinking whisky at this time of day?”

“Well no, actually I haven’t drunk any of it yet.”

“But your gonna?”

“I’m only having one I promise.”

“So you came all the way here for one drink?”

“Na, I came to see you, but you were in the office so I thought I may as well after everything I’ve heard today.”

“It was really that bad?”

“Worse.”

“So one drink, then whatcha gonna do?”

“Go home and wait for you.”

They chatted for a while until a few more customers started wondering in and Allie had to get back to work. Finishing her drink she got Allies attention and let her know she was heading home. She didn’t want to be at home alone but knew she could always busy herself cooking dinner. She only had a couple of hours to kill before Allie would be home, it was crazy really, being alone had never bothered her in the past, she’d enjoyed going home to an empty house when Debbie had stayed over at a friends but it was all completely different now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't promise when I'll get another chapter posted and I'm not going to even try, but I can guarantee that for a certain person there will be payback next time!


	75. Chapter 75

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know I'm late posting this chapter, and it's not how I set out to write this chapter at all, so no cold showers required this time. After having a cold, being totally distracted and staying up most of the night to help a certain nephew who shall remain nameless with a history essay of all things I wondered off track completely and the dark side of my imagination took over.

A couple of days had passed and they were still getting daily updates from Detective Ayoub, Jesper just wouldn’t stop talking. It was getting harder and harder to hear something’s, that morning had been bad, they had taken him out to show the detective’s working the case where the bodies of two dead girls had been buried and he told them there were a lot more scattered around Melbourne. Bea had eventually snapped and told Franky that she didn’t want to hear anymore and to only tell her things that didn’t involve anything to do with the girls that had overdosed, been beaten to death or had died in any other way. She just couldn’t keep going home at the end of the day with all that in her head, Allie asked questions constantly, she couldn’t hide the fact that something was playing on her mind and this new revelation wasn’t something she wanted to be thinking about, how do you explained what’s going on in your head when it’s absolutely the worst possible thing ever? Allie didn’t need to be reminded of the violence that was all too common out on the streets for the girls who were still working on them. She didn’t want to feel like she was the cause of bringing back the worst possible memories that she knew Allie had kept to herself.

They had their share of cases that still needed to be investigated and even though the constant stream of background checks and tracing people that had skipped town for one reason or another were the things Bea hated the most she was glad to be working on them, leaving Franky to keep up to date with the Channing catastrophe. David kept popping into the office and Bea took some time out to show him how they worked, it kept her mind busy and she was enjoying helping him, in three weeks he would be starting his course in investigative services and helping out was only going to help him in the long run.

The day was dragging and Bea had just finished a meeting with a new client who was trying to trace her father, she hadn’t seen him since she was 2 years old, she had only one photograph of him and after 25 years apart that wasn’t going to be a great deal of use but she got a copy of it so she at least had a face to put to the name. She couldn’t even pass this case on to Franky she already had enough to do. She was just going to make a start trying to trace her father when her phone rang, she wasn’t paying attention and answered it a little pissed off for the disruption.

“What?”

“Bea, is everything ok?”

“Allie….yer sorry I didn’t mean to snap at you, wasn’t paying attention.”

“I’ve decided I’m gonna go see Dana after work, will you come with me?”

“Um, yer I guess if that’s what you want.”

“It is, I’ll meet you at the shelter, five thirty ok with you?”

“Yer, I’ll be there.”

“Good…I love you.”

“I love you too….I’ll see you later.”

Going to the shelter was not part of her plan for that day or any other day soon, the thought of seeing Dana again made her uneasy. She just didn’t understand why she made her so uncomfortable, most people she didn’t know in general made her uncomfortable, but this was on a whole new level. Trying not to think so much about it she went back to work, unsuccessfully because she just couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that she had. Leaving the confines of her office she grabbed a coffee and went to speak to Franky, she had all the details and Bea needed some questions answering that couldn’t wait.

“Franky, do you know what brothel Dana is meant to have run from?”

“Yer, I think, let me check.”

Checking the information wasn’t difficult Franky had everything stored on her computer she was puzzled why Bea was asking questions especially as she said she would be busy for the rest of the day.

“She was at the one over in Kingston, but so what?”

“Has she actually given the police her statement yet?”

“Not in full, she kinda has a breakdown every time they try to interview her. Whatcha thinkin Red?”

“I’m not sure, there’s something not right about her Franky. You and I both know how uneasy I get around people, but with her, it’s on a whole different level…..and Allie wants to go over and see her after work.”

“Shit….you goin with her?”

“Yer…I’d rather not, I don’t want to see her, she…she….”

“Creeps you out.” Franky offered.

“Yer, yer she does, the same way Channing did.”

“I’ve not met her so I can’t comment, but we both know you have good instincts, I’m gonna call Detective Ayoub, run it past her, can’t hurt can it?”

“Guess not.”

Leaving Franky to make the call Bea went back to her office, throwing herself back into her chair, closing her eyes as her mind raced in the most unhelpful way possible. She has to get back to work but she just can’t focus on her ‘problem du jour’, her brain keeps on handing her little factoids about the dangers she perceives around Dana, and in her growing discomfort around seeing her again she feels her irritability grow and her logical thinking decrease as if they are locked into some inverse relationship. Franky bursting through the door didn’t drag her back to the present, it wasn’t until she felt a hand on her shoulder gently shaking her that she opened her eyes seeing a very perplexed Franky standing at her side.

“Umm, everything ok?”

“Sure Franky, I’m good.”

“Detective Ayoub will be over soon, seems she’s thinking the same as you.”

“Really….great minds and all that?”

“Whatever Red….get your ass to my office instead of daydreaming about blondie.”

Once seated in Franky’s office Bea could only hope that she was wrong, except deep down she knew that there was more to Dana, the way she had so expertly managed to avoid Beas questions that night at the shelter made her think of Derek Channing, and the more she thought about it the more she started to recognise what she had really seen, Dana wasn’t on drugs, everything she had been told didn’t fit with her in the slightest, all the girls working in the brothels were, either by choice or by force taking drugs, they kept them in line so they wouldn’t question anything or anyone. Franky’s office door closing made her jump slightly, looking around she saw the detective making her way over to the chair next to her. The next couple of hours Bea and the detective spent discussing Dana, the detective showing Bea Ferguson’s meticulous records she had kept of every girl that was working, Dana’s name not on a single page, leaving them to draw the only conclusion they could, Dana wasn’t working as a prostitute, she was running the brothel under Ferguson’s watchful eye.

Bea received a text from Allie telling her that she had changed her mind and that she would pick Bea up from her office instead of them both driving over to the shelter. After sending a reply she went straight back to the conversation leaving Franky just sitting there trying to arrange her thoughts, this wasn’t something any of them had expected to find out, after attentively listening to them discussing Dana’s role for the past few hours even Franky had to admit that what they were saying sounded extremely plausible. Thinking about it more it made sense, why would Channing have been so bothered about just another junkie whore going missing, if she could have got away she wasn’t much of a threat to his business, other girls had gone missing and he’d never tried to find them the same way, he would have just sent Nils Jesper to look for her if that’s all she was. A knock on the door put an end to the discussion, something of a relief when Allie popped her head round the door asking Bea if she was ready to go.

The drive over to the shelter was almost done in silence, Bea still wasn’t keen to be going back and Allie was very aware of that, if she was honest with herself she had half expected Bea to say she wouldn’t go with her. Allie had to be totally honest with herself her nerves were frayed, in her building anxiety she was constructing elaborate rationalisations for why seeing Dana again was a good idea, but the nagging voice in her head spoke of nothing but doom. How could she think that she would still be the same? Would she even recognise her? Pulling up outside the shelter she looked over at Bea,

“Ready?”

Bea just nodded, unclipping her seatbelt and getting out of the car, Allie got out and walked round to Bea taking her hand.

“Don’t you need to call Kaz?”

“She’s not here, been in court all day hasn’t she?”

“Yer, I forgot about that.”

“I called earlier, I was told you know where the office is and to go there when we arrived.”

  
Bea looked down at their hands then back up to the building in front of them telling herself that she was doing this for Allie. Arriving outside the office Allie knocked on the door, seconds later they heard someone call for them to ‘come in’, reaching for the door handle she closed her eyes momentarily and inhaled deeply before opening the door. Entering the office her eyes finally locked on the older woman sitting behind the desk,

“Hi, you must be Allie, I’ve heard so much about you from Dana, and you’re a Bea that’s right isn’t it?”

“Yer,” Allie whispered as Bea just nodded.

“Well if you’d both like to take a seat I’ll go and see if Dana is ready. Where are my manners, I’m Jackie…anyway I won’t be long.”

She left the room leaving them to sit and wait, the air was thick with anticipation, it was quiet, maybe too quiet and Bea couldn’t help but wonder if this was just the calm before the storm. Allie sat, still holding her hand, tapping her foot like some dumb wind up toy, in the next few minutes Dana was going to walk through that door and Allie was starting to wonder if she was making a mistake by being there at all, she wasn’t the same person she had been and she wasn’t about to let herself be dragged back into the life she had struggled so hard to get away from. The door opening and then closing behind them sent a rush of dread through Allie, turning her head she was met with Dana looking down at her.

“Allie you look great, it’s been so long.”

She dragged a chair over from the corner of the room placing it next to Allie and sat down, her eyes eventually falling to their joined hands, her eyes ultimately landing on Bea as a frown formed on her face. Bea decided that she was going to leave them to talk, she had really only promised to go with Allie, there had never been any mention of her sticking around. Leaning in she whispered to Allie that she would wait outside so they could talk. Allie just nodded, letting go of her hand as she stood up to leave, watching her as she walked across the room she felt a sudden sadness rush through her veins, as the door closed she slowly turned her attention back to Dana who was sat, a little too close for Allies liking, smiling back at her.

Bea stood behind the closed door, wiping a hand across her face, unsure if leaving Allie was the right thing to have done but she just couldn’t stay in that room, she was perturbed by the look she had received from Dana and needed to put some distance between them even though that meant leaving Allie alone with her. Making her way down the corridor she was greeted by Jacky walking towards her.

“Bea, that’s right isn’t it? Could I have a quick word with you?”

She just nodded and followed her down the corridor and outside into the fresh air.

“Tell me honestly what do you think of Dana?”

“Err, well, I shouldn’t really comment on my personal feelings towards her, I have only met her the once before tonight.”

“I only ask as I’m sure you’re well aware of her background, and I know we’re not here to judge, we offer a helping hand, it’s just…..well….how do I put this? She seems to scare some of the women here, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there is something going on with her.”

  
“I understand your concerns but I don’t see how I can be of any help, as I say I’ve only really met her once and she wasn’t overly forthcoming even though it was her who asked to see me.”

“She doesn’t seem to want to help the police, it's as if she’s trying to hide something.”

“I agree, but I can’t discuss that.”

“Obviously I understand, the situation that brought her here is a mess that’s for sure, but I worry, Kaz seems to have taken a real liking to her, when she’s here they always seem to be together.”

“From what I know of Kaz I can say she hasn’t always chosen the people she associates herself with wisely, not that I’m saying she doesn’t care about the women here I genuinely think she does, maybe she’s either just not the best judge of character or is just plain gullible.”

Allie and Dana had chatted, Allie had tried not to talk about the case, she knew Bea had told her things that she wouldn’t want repeating to anyone. They had shared a few laughs and reminded each other of some of the crazy things they had witnessed during the time they had hung around together, but after an hour Allie was tired. She wanted to go home and spend the rest of the evening with Bea, it didn’t help that she was getting hungry and a hungry Allie was a slightly grumpy Allie. She told Dana that she really had to get going, and after a few minutes of Dana pleading with her she said she would go back the following evening even though she expected that Bea would be pissed off about it. She didn’t just want to turn her back on her, the way Allie saw it she was probably the closest thing she ever had to a friend and a real friend doesn't just turn their back on you no matter what you have done. They walked towards the door together, bumping into Jacky on the way who told Dana that dinner was ready.

“You really will come back won’t you?” Dana asked as they stood by the door.

“I will, I said I would.”

“Great, but maybe come alone tomorrow.”

“Well I doubt very much that Bea would come back with me a second night.”

Dana just smiled, said goodbye and walked off in the direction of the kitchen.

Exiting the building Allie found Bea sitting on the step looking down at her phone.

“Are you ready to go babe?”

“I’m ready to go anywhere you want me to, but can we please go and pick my car up and go home? Maybe pick a takeaway up on the way?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Allie held out her hand for Bea to take, gently pulling her up from the step before pulling her close and kissing her.

“I missed you….now let’s go.”

Neither of them noticed Dana stood looking out of the window as they walked over to Allies car hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will try and write a little faster but I make no promises, so if I don't get the next chapter finished by Christmas Eve at least I have no idea when I will have the next chapter finished.


	76. Chapter 76

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the really long delay with this chapter, I've had numerous distractions, some of which not as welcome as others.

Allie had meant to tell Bea that she intended to go back to the shelter that evening but had forgotten, her shift was almost over when she realized that she hadn’t, leaving it until she was about ready to leave for the day she sent her a text saying she would be late home. It wasn’t the time to get into an argument although she knew as soon as she told her the truth that was how it was most likely to end. After reading her text Bea didn’t really give it a second thought, it was Friday night and there was always the possibility that someone hadn’t turned up for their shift, sending her a text back saying she’d see her later. She went back to her computer, there was no rush to finish up now and she hadn’t realized the time until Liz opened her office door asking her if she was going home. Checking the time and seeing it was just after 6pm she told Liz she would lock up after she finished what she was doing, Liz didn’t argue with that, she had waited back for Bea expecting her to finish at her now normal time, when she hadn’t she was a little concerned but she knew she was busy.

Leaving the bar Allie headed straight over to the shelter, parking outside she asked herself if she was really doing the right thing, Bea didn’t like Dana in the slightest she knew that but couldn’t seem to understand why. After sitting in her car for a few minutes she got out and headed into the shelter spotting Jackie the second she walked through the door.

“Hi Allie, you back to see Dana again?”

“I am, I think she just needs a friend right now.”

Jackie just laughed, she had already seen just how manipulative Dana could be and that worried her, Allie seemed really genuine to her and she didn’t want her getting in way over here head just because of someone she had once considered a friend.

“Did I say something to amuse you?” Allie asked with an inquisitive look.

“Err, well, it’s just that I think you should be careful, Dana is not as helpless as she seems.”

“Really…..and you know from your own experience what she’s been through then do you?”

“No, I can’t pretend to fully comprehend how her life has been, I just think you may find that she has changed more than you think.”

“I’m certain that I can make my own mind up. If you could just let her know I’m here I would appreciate that, I’ll wait outside.”

Allie turned and took off back out of the door, she was pissed off, sitting down on the step trying to work out in her own head why everyone seemed to dislike her so much. Was she missing something? She didn’t think she was, Dana seemed more or less the same as she used to be to her, but then they had only spoken the once. The door opening got Allies attention, turning here head she saw Dana standing there. 

“Why are you sitting out here?”

“No reason really, just needed some air,” Allie didn’t want to tell her what Jackie had said.

They stayed sitting on the step chatting for a while until Dana mentioned Bea.

“I’m really glad you came back on your own.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well I don’t think your girlfriend likes me much, not that I care, I don’t understand what you’re doing with her Allie, don’t you think you could do better?”

Allie shot her head round to look Dana in the eye before standing up and walking slightly away from her.

“Better than Bea, are you crazy? You have no idea do you?”

“Oh come on Allie, you know what I mean.”

“No I don’t think I do and I’m certain I don’t want to know either.”

“We could take off together somewhere after all this shit blows over, I’ve got plenty of money you don’t need her.”

“You…..you really think I’m only with her for what she can give me?”

“You are aren’t ya? I mean where did you get a car like that, you never had anything, none of us did, then you find yourself a sugar momma. That how she pays you? Gives you anything you want.”

“I…I can’t believe you’re saying this, any of it. She doesn’t pay me for anything. I have my own money I don’t have to ask her for anything.”

“Yer whatever you need to tell yourself Allie, people like us just don’t change overnight, it’s impossible, the only reason I stopped working is because I was given a better offer. You’ve done the same thing just in a different way, she puts a roof over your head doesn’t she, pays the bills."

“I don’t think our life together is anything to do with you really. But come on tell me how you think I couldn’t change, is it really that impossible to believe that we love each other? That I mean it when I say that I couldn’t or wouldn’t want to live without her. I’m not like you, all I ever wanted was to be with someone who loved me and Bea does.”

“Sure she does, didn’t look like it yesterday when she left you alone in the office with me. Come on Allie, I know how the brothel business works now, they never knew but I kept money back, when I ran I did it with a full weeks takings and what I already had stashed, that was the only reason Derek was looking for me. I would have been long gone if it hadn’t been for your sugar momma sticking her nose in. Thanks to that bitch I’m stuck here for now. We could leave together when it’s all over, start up in business together, you wouldn’t have to work.”

Allie’s knuckles where white from clenching her fist too hard, she gritted her teeth trying to remain silent, her now hunched form exuded an animosity that was like acid, burning and potent. Her face was getting redder with her suppressed rage. Stepping forward she was toe to toe with Dana, and she still wasn’t stopping, all Allie could hear was a jumbled stream of insults directed at the woman she loved coming from her mouth. She wasn’t sure when it happened but the next thing she knew her fist was slamming into Dana’s face. Stumbling apart for a few seconds before diving back at one another, Allies eyes narrowed in determination. Dodging the first punch that Dana threw at her, Allies fist connected with her jaw throwing Dana off balance, she stumbled backwards. Allie was in no mood to let this go so easily, she had insulted the only good thing she had ever had in her life and there was no stopping her now, another punch hitting her right on the nose, the next in the right eye. Dana had never been a fighter Allie knew that, she’d seen her fight and she knew what was coming as she felt her hair being pulled and the full force of the headbutt that Dana landed on her causing her thinking to become paralysed for a moment. Allie just as quickly punched her in the stomach causing Dana to release her hold on her hair as she doubled over in pain before one last punch left her laying on the floor. Backing away Allie couldn’t believe the things she had been saying, Bea and now Jackie had been right about her, she didn’t want a friend, didn’t want to change her her life the way Allie had.

“You fucking bitch……I’ll kill you if you ever so much breath in Bea’s direction again.”

“Oh what Allie, she’s too old to fight her own battles, is that all you could get, some pathetic washed up bitch?” Dana laughed as she winced in pain.

“She doesn’t need me to fight anything for her, you have no fucking idea about her, but if you think I’m letting you spout your crap about her you’re mistaken. She warned me, told me I should be careful but I didn’t believe her, didn’t want to…..”

“And what’s she gonna do now? Come over here and kick my arse? I’m not fucking scared of her, admit it Allie, she doesn’t give you what you need, look at you…running around playing house with a stupid bitch who let her ex husband kick the crap out of her for years……..you think I don’t know about her?”

Every thought in Allies head in that moment wanted to punch Dana and not stop until she was totally obliterated leaving nothing left, she hated the way she was talking about Bea, rubbishing their relationship, she was only glad that Bea couldn’t hear what she was saying. Jackie walking towards Allie and putting her hand on her shoulder was enough to drag her from her thoughts.

“Are you going to be alright Allie?”

“Huh…yer…you should be more worried about her,” she answered as she glared at Dana who was still on the floor.

“Come inside Allie, let’s get that cut cleaned up, I cant let you go home looking like this.”

“I’ll be fine, I can look after myself.”

Two of the other volunteers came outside, picking Dana up and ushering her back inside.

“It’s pretty obvious that you can look after yourself but I want to help you.”

“Yer, fine….I should have listened shouldn’t I? I never thought she would be like this, she pulled some crazy shit in the past, but this….the way she was talking.”

“I heard most of it, I think the police will be very interested in what she had to say for herself don’t you? She’s refused to give a statement so far….I think we should tell them what she said.”

 

Allie looked at Jackie seeing nothing but kindness in her eyes, she was right and she knew it, Allie had wanted to believe that Dana had been a victim in all this, the things she had said had made her so angry but she wasn’t going to stand back, not now that she knew the truth, Dana was just as bad as Derek Channing, worse in fact, she knew what it felt like to be used and she had used the girls in the brothel for her own ends. Following Jackie back into the shelter they went to the office, cleaning the cut above Allies eye Jackie said she would wait for her to leave before she called the police so she could have a chance to go home and speak to Bea before having to tell them what Dana had told her. 

The drive home left Allie worried, she couldn’t hide the injury she had from Bea and she knew she was going to be in trouble for going over there by herself, she only hoped that what Dana had told her would convince Bea just a little that it had been a worthwhile trip. Pulling into the drive she could feel the fear in her chest waiting to take over even though she knew there wasn’t any danger. It sat there like an angry ball propelling her towards an anxiety that she really didn’t need. Switching off the radio she got out of the car inhaling deeply as she locked it. Walking slowly towards the house she reached into her bag to find her keys, reaching the door she unlocked it entering the house trying to close the door behind her silently hoping that she would get a chance to tell Bea what had happened without too many interruptions from her flying off the handle. She knew she should have listened but it was too late now, she had thought she was doing the right thing. Dropping her bag to the floor and kicking off her shoes she heard Bea moving around in the kitchen, reaching the doorway she was relieved to find Bea with her back to her doing dishes. Silently crossing the kitchen she stopped behind her, wrapping her arms around her waist she placed a soft kiss on her neck.

“Busy shift?”

“Errr….a little…….but that’s not the reason I’m late and you’re not going to be happy with me when I tell you where I was.”

Bea tried to turn around to face her but Allie wasn’t allowing her to.

“Babe please, just hear me out.” She said as she rested her head against her shoulder.

“Ok….you’re scaring me now, please just tell me.”

“I know you didn’t want me to go back to the shelter but I did…and I spoke with Dana, long story short she said some shit about you and we had a fight.”

“Allie……” Bea half whined as she reached down removing her arms from around her and slowly turning to face her instantly seeing the cut above her eye.

“She did that to you?”

Allie just nodded not really being able to read the expression that was on her face.

“I’ll fucking kill her… I don’t care what she says about me, but she hit you?”

“Bea, calm down, she came off worse. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gone, I thought we could talk more and then she told me what she had done and the real reason Derek Channing was looking for her. When she started running her mouth about you I lost it, I’m telling you I don’t think I could have been anymore angry than I was right then.”

“But she hit you.”

“Well not really, it was a headbutt, I put her on her arse though,” she giggled.

Bea just stood there looking at her, not even sure in that moment what she was going to say, she was angry with Dana, and pissed off at Allie for going to see her again but she had got hurt and that fact just made her feel the anger rising even more. Allie took her hand and lead her through to the lounge and over to the sofa telling her to sit down, which she did. As Allie proceeded to tell her everything that had been said Bea felt a burning rage hissing through her body like a deadly poison, screaming and demanding to be released. 

“Fuck sake Allie, do you ever listen to me?”

“I thought I could just talk to her, I wasn’t expecting her to tell me what she had done.”

“But you’re getting dragged into it now, I didn’t want that…you don’t need to be involved, just stick to what you do and leave this kind of thing to me and Franky.”

“I was already involved, you know that, just knowing her meant I was.”

Bea knew she was right but wasn’t going to admit it, and Allie had caused Dana to admit her real role in the Channing’s mess, but it still wasn’t something she felt comfortable with. Running upstairs she grabbed her leather jacket and boots before storming back down stairs, grabbing her keys for the bike and heading out of the house. She needed to clear her head, staying in the house wasn’t an option if she didn’t want to make matters worse between them. Allie just watched her leave not even sure what to do. 

Bea had been gone for around three hours and Allie had given up just sitting around waiting for her and gone to bed, she was pissed off, she had tossed and turned for a while, sleeping alone was something she had grown to hate even it it was only for a short while and she had thought of sleeping in the spare room not sure if Bea would still be angry when she returned home but had decided against it in the hope that she would calm down. 

Putting the bike back in the garage Bea found the house in darkness, she was just mad at herself now for being mad at Allie, she had helped, no one expected Dana to admit to her role not even Detective Ayoub had much confidence in her telling the truth. Pulling her boots and jacket off she dropped them beside the sofa before deciding to just go to bed. Allie was fast asleep in the middle of the bed and Bea didn’t want to wake her choosing to get changed in the bathroom, slipping into bed beside her she pulled her close as she closed her eyes.

“You still mad at me?” Allie asked sleepily as she cuddled into her.

“No beautiful, I’m not mad at you just at myself, go back to sleep sweetheart.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, now sleep you had a hard day.”

Bea lay there for a while until she was sure she had fallen back to sleep before allowing herself to drift off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really will try harder now to keep up with writing again.


	77. Chapter 77

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Firstly I want to say thank you to everyone for all your kind words last week, and although I know I'm probably not completely back to my usual self I am feeling better today. Yesterday I reread the half finished chapter that I had and then spent longer than was really necessary just staring at it unable to think of how I was going to continue. But after having something I really needed to do today I arrived home and just knew I would finish it.
> 
> Just a warning, you may not want to read some of this chapter in public.

Dana had no clue that Jackie had been in contact with the police, Jackie had spoken with one of the other detectives who was working on the case he had taken a great interest in what she had to tell him, he had asked her to make sure to keep a watchful eye over Dana through the night as it really wasn’t practical to send anyone over. When Detective Ayoub had arrived at the station earlier than was usual the next morning she was gobsmacked, Dana had finally slipped up and admitted what she had been been doing, she was a little shocked that it had been Allie who she had admitted it to. She also had to arrange to speak to all the girls who had worked in that particular brothel again, but first thing was first and she couldn’t wait to have another conversation with Dana. By 6:45am she and another detective were ready to leave the station and head over to the shelter.

“Are we bringing her in this time?”

“We are, I’m not messing around anymore, I just need to make a quick call to the shelter.”

“No worries, I’ll get the car.”

After speaking to Jackie for a couple of minutes and being assured that Dana was still on the premises she left the station.

\------------------------------

Bea had woken up a few times during the night, she had a bad feeling that she couldn’t shake, at least waking up with Allie still in her arms helped a little. What Allie had told her was playing on her mind, she knew Allie wouldn’t leave, she was sure of it but what Dana had offered her was playing on her mind. Allie wouldn’t ever take her up on it, she was more certain of that than anything, she would never want to see someone else suffer the way she had in the past let alone be any part of the cause in that kind of suffering to another person. By 5am she had given up trying to sleep anymore and after turning off the alarm she lay watching Allie sleep. Tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ear she pulled her closer listening to her breathing. There was absolute stillness, not a sound could be heard from the outside world, even her own breath seemed to die as soon as it left her mouth. It was an eerie kind of tranquility, the thoughts still running through her head left her feeling like the pray even though no predator could be detected in the stillness of their room. It was as if they were in a bubble and there was no way out.

Bea didn’t notice Allie slowly open her eyes and smile as she watched her lost in her thoughts.

“Babe what are you thinking about?”

“Huh, oh ya know, just stuff.”

“Does that mean you’re still mad at me?”

“Maybe a little.”

“A little? Are you trying to convince yourself or me?”

Beas gaze landed squarely on Allies face and she let out an almost silent laugh.

“I wish I’d seen you kick her arse, I’m sorry I missed that.”

“I’ll have to talk to the police at some point, I think I’ll call Jackie later and find out what’s happening.”

“Let’s not think about it right now.”

Resting their foreheads together they lay there in silence looking into each others eyes for a few minutes. Allie raised her hand to Beas face to gently brush the few strands of hair that had fallen across her face behind her ear before running her fingers through her hair she gently kissed her on the lips. Allie knew Bea was still a little mad at her, she shouldn’t have gone to the shelter, she should have trusted what she had been told about Dana and not just assumed that they could still be friends. She hated what Dana had done, she couldn’t understand how anyone who had experienced that life for themselves would willingly make other girls suffer. She couldn’t help the tears from escaping no matter how hard she tried to hold them back. Bea pulled her closer and held her tight,

“Shhh, it’s ok, I’m not mad at you anymore.”

“It... it’s…n..not…that.” Allie whispered between sobs.

“Talk to me beautiful, tell me what’s wrong, you know I’m always here to listen to you when you need me.”

“I…I…can’t believe…she,…Dana did... that.”

“I know, I know, but baby it’s not your fault, how were you to know?”

Bea just held her until she had no more tears left to cry, she hated that she was hurting and there was nothing more at that moment in time that she could do. Loosening her arms slightly they looked into each other’s eyes for the longest time. Bea brought a hand up to Allies face brushing stray strands of hair away that had fallen over her eyes, running her fingers through her hair as she gently pressed her lips against her forehead, pulling away she ran her hand softly along her jaw coming to a stop under her chin and lightly raising it before pressing their lips together in a delicate love filled kiss.

“No more tears my beautiful girl, I know you only wanted to believe she had nothing but good intentions.”

“And I messed up, I always mess up.”

“You wanted to see the good in her, that’s not messing up Allie, that’s just the person you are, no matter what you have been through, and how badly you were treated, you only ever seem to try and see the good in others.”

“I should have known better.”

“How could you? You knew her, or at least thought you did, remember you told me she did some crazy things when you used to hang around with her, you looked past her craziness then and only saw the good in her, you believed she was your friend…..babe at that time in your life you had no one, but it’s different now.”

Allie pulled her closer and nuzzled her head into her neck. They lay there holding each other the silence caressing their skin like a warm summer breeze, soothing their souls and taking away their jagged edges. Pulling apart slightly Bea rested her hand on Allies cheek caressing her chin with her thumb before placing a tender kiss on her lips, her hand making its way to the back of her neck and pulling her in deepening the kiss as she gently rolled Allie over so she was laying in her back, pulling apart again Bea pulled herself up her hands immediately finding the hem of Allies shirt pulling it up and off before tossing it on the floor. She ran her fingertips smoothly over her skin feeling her muscles twitch beneath her touch, she kissed her way along her jaw down her neck and along her chest slowly making her way to her right breast. Allie loved the feel of Beas lips against her skin, the smallest of kisses could set her on fire and leave her wanting so much more. Beas mouth covered her nipple her tongue circling it as she rolled the other between her fingers causing Allie to arch her body upwards. Trailing soft kisses down her body Bea inched her way lower, pausing momentarily as she hooked her fingers under the waistband of her panties pulling them down slowly as she continued to place gentle hardly discernible kisses down her legs until she reached her ankles. Dropping her panties on the floor she traveled back up her body paying it the exact same amount of attention until she was laying on top of her.

“How come I’m the only one naked here?”

“Shh Allie, does it really matter?”

Allie lay her head back gently letting it sink into her pillow, as Bea kissed back down her neck, across her chest and back to her breasts, her hand slowly almost imperceptibly trailing back down her body, over her stomach until she reached her already wet folds, slowly circling her clit with her fingers causing Allie to raise her hips up into her touch.

“Fuck Bea, please.”

Bea pressed her fingers more firmly against her swollen clit causing Allie to moan loudly, moving her fingers lower she entered her slowly.

“Baby…please.” Allie breathed.

She thrust slowly in and out, pressing her thumb against her clit, feeling her hips start to rock in sync with her movements, she picked up the pace, thrusting harder as she kissed her way across her chest and back up her neck, across her jaw until she reached her lips, kissing her passionately before dropping back to her neck, increasing the pace again as she circled her thumb around her clit and curled her fingers deep inside her as she felt Allies body arch off the bed as her orgasm ripped through her body. Beas phone ringing quickly drug Bea’s mind away from Allie.

“Fucking phone……shut the fuck up,” she growled.

Rolling over Bea grabbed her phone instantly seeing Franky’s name on the screen, cursing under her breath as the phone went silent for a few seconds before it rang again.

“Can’t you tell the fucking time Franky?”

“Hey, I was woken up earlier than this, in my defence I’m only passing on a message.”

“And it couldn’t wait?”

“Well no, not really, we need to get into the office early before we head over to the police station.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? Why do we need to go to the police station?”

“Trust me Red, Detective Ayoub called me, they’re taking Dana in for questioning, seems she had been playing games this whole time and she was part of this fucking mess.”

“That’s old news Franky, she admitted it to Allie yesterday.”

“The fuck, so you already knew?”

“Obviously…….so what time are you going to the office?”

“Gonna get in for 8:30am, that ok with you?”

“Yer I guess, better get up then hadn’t I?”

“Aren’t you normally out of bed by now anyway? Wait, shit….sorry Red.”

“Forget it Franky, I’ll be in as soon as I can.”

\---------------------------

Jackie was sat on the steps outside the shelter sipping on a coffee when the detectives arrived, she stayed in her seated position until she saw them approaching.

“She is still here isn’t she?” Detective Ayoub enquired.

“She hasn’t left her room all night, but it won’t be long before everyone is up, I’d rather you take her out of here quietly.”

“Naturally, we don’t want to cause any unnecessary distress to any of the other women, I suggest we wait in the office and you bring her to us.”

“I have no objection to that, please follow me.”

Leaving the detectives in the office Jackie silently made her way to Dana’s room, stopping outside the door and gently knocking on it, after waiting for a few seconds and hearing no response she knocked again, a little louder than before.

“Who is it?” Dana mumbled

“It’s Jackie, I’m sorry to wake you but I need to speak with you in the office.”

“Can’t it wait?”

“I’m afraid not, please Dana, it’s important.”

“Fine I’ll be down in five minutes.”

  
Jackie hovered around for a minute hearing movement inside Dana’s room she walked away and heading back to the office. A few minutes later Dana knocked on the office door, entering as soon as Jackie called for her to enter. She didn’t pay a great deal of attention to the other two occupants of the room until she noticed the movement of someone standing up out of the corner of her eye, snapping her head round in that direction she wore a blank expression as she saw Detective Ayoub.

“We need you to accompany us to the station Dana.”

“What? Why?” Her tone relatively neutral.

“We need to get things cleared up with you, and it does seem that you feel uneasy speaking with us here….there’s no need to worry.”

“Oh….errr, well yes I do feel…..uneasy. I don’t want everyone to be able to overhear.” Her voice this time betraying her, as her nerves were now evident.

Walking out of the shelter with a detective to either side she knew she had to play it cool, she doubted that Allie had mentioned anything to the police, but she also knew that she would have told Bea, she had taken an instant dislike to Bea the second she met her, she hadn’t known why at he time, the second she found out that her and Allie were together that dislike turned to hatred. Allie had changed and she didn’t like it, her life was still a mess but Allie, she had it all now, a real job, a home and someone she loved. It had been something they had joked about in the past but Allie had everything and all Dana had was the same life that revolved around prostitution one way or another. Sitting in the backseat of the car on the short drive to the police station she again went over her story in her head, “make sure you cry,” she told herself, “the rest of them will have cried, make it believable.”

\------------------------------

Bea had rushed around trying to get ready, almost falling over her own feet at one point causing Allie to laugh,

“Hey it’s not funny,” Bea grumbled.

“Sorry babe, but it was, the look on your face was priceless.”

Bea just shook her head as she made her way out of the bedroom.

“You better get up, I’m not bringing you breakfast in bed now.” Bea called out over her shoulder as she was walking downstairs.

Five minutes later Allie appeared in the kitchen, sitting herself down at the table.

“Why are you in such a rush anyway?”

“The police are taking Dana in for questioning, they probably already have her at the police station.”

“You think she’ll tell the truth?”

“Probably not,” Bea answered as she slid a cup of coffee across the table to Allie. “Are you hungry?”

“I’m not sure now….I’m going to have to tell them what she told me aren’t I?”

“You are, but Jackie heard her as well, it’s not just you who heard her. And I’m pretty certain that they will speak with the women who worked there, they may be reluctant to tell the truth but I guess some of them will be glad to say what was really going on.”

“Hmmm, I don’t know Bea, they were kept quiet with drugs, that shit fucks with your head ya know.”

“I know, but they are getting help now, they’re safe so you never know.”

Taking a seat beside Allie Bea placed her coffee down on the table and wrapped her arm around her shoulders pulling her in close.

“Listen to me, I know you’re upset, you still don’t want to believe what she said is the truth but I’m sure you know deep down that it is. I get it I really do sweetheart, and the things she said to you are unforgivable, she hurt you and you don’t need that in your life. Just tell the truth and draw a line under it. I know it’s hard for you but I’m here, I’ll never let you go through this alone.”

“I know babe, I didn’t expect to hear What came out of her mouth. Can’t un hear it can I? She's  proved she’s as bad as Channing, I’m going to move on from this, just not sure how right now."

“Your going to be ok, and I hate this right now but I have to go.”

“You better had get going or Franky will be pissed at you.”

Bea gathered her things together, running back upstairs when she remembered her phone was still in the bedroom, going back to the kitchen before leaving she found Allie still sat at the table lost in her thoughts.

“Allie…Allie.”

“Huh, sorry I was miles away.”

Getting up from her seat she walked over to Bea, gently snaking her arms around her and resting her head on her shoulder.

“Don’t work too hard will you?”

“I don’t intend to….you will be alright won’t you?”

Allie moved her head away from her shoulder so she could look her directly in the eye.

“I’ll be fine, when I get to work I’ll talk to Will, warn him that I may have to leave sometime soon to talk to the police.”

“Good idea, he’s got your back you know, we all do, especially me.”

“You better have, now shut up and kiss me before you go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I make no promises as to how long the next chapter will take, but to the person who said they wished I would keep writing you got your wish.


	78. Chapter 78

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a wee bit shorter than most but not by much. I will warn everyone now that there is quite a lot of anxiety issues covered in this chapter, and I know from experience that not everyone experiences anxiety in the same way so this is written from my own personal experience.

Franky’s phone started ringing the second she had closed her car door behind her, dragging it out of her pocket so she could answer it, quickly looking at the caller ID.

“Detective, what can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to let you know that we’ve brought Dana in, for now we’re just going to let her sweat it out in an interview room.”

“She hasn’t said anything?”

“Apart from agreeing to come to the police station we haven’t heard a word out of her.”

“I doubt she’s going to make it easy for you.”

“I believe that will be a correct assumption, we will need yourself and Bea to come over to the station later, I’d come over to you but we’re going to have our hands full, almost all the women have agreed to give a statement.”

“Just give me a call when you need us.”

Turning around to face the office she hadn’t noticed that Bea was almost stood right next to her.

“Fuck sake Red, don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“Who’s sneaking? You were on the phone, you just didn’t see me.”

Bea walked away laughing to herself, stopping to unlock the office door. Once inside they both flopped down into one of the chairs each. They just sat there in silence, the kind of thick silence that would normally send chills through Beas body, today she wasn’t going to allow that to happen. Turning her head to look at Franky who just sat there slumped slightly forward looking down at the floor her brow creased and her face tense. The air in the room felt brittle, as if it would snap any second.

“Come on Franky, what’s up?”

“I can’t shake this feeling…..ahh, ya know….like something is going to go wrong.”

“I know, I hardly slept last night…..I’m scared Franky, scared for Allie, for you….for everyone caught up in this whole damn mess...that nagging in my head won’t stop.”

“I hear ya, and sorry about earlier, calling when I did.”

“Forget about it.”

Franky rose from her seated position making her way over to the coffee machine, it was the unwritten rule that the three of them had always stuck to, first one in the office gets the coffee started, and even though technically she hadn’t been the first one in the office she was glad of the distraction. It was going to be a tough day, Dana was already sat in the police station, Jesper was going to be interviewed again, and if anyone knew what part Dana played he did and he wasn’t afraid to talk. Channing and Ferguson had kept everyone guessing, neither of them uttering any other words to the detectives other than ‘no comment’, their only form of communication had been given in the form of a prepared statement contrived with their lawyers, Franky had seen them, they were packed with lies, and Franky hated lies, the kind of lies she hated the most were the ones that were so close to the truth that they flew under the radar. Their statements were filled with lies so big that she found it hard to believe that anyone could dream them up. The office door being opened at an alarming rate broke her train of thought, seeing Liz standing there a little out of breath.

“What happened to you?” Bea asked.

“Bloody car wouldn’t start would it? So I called a taxi, the driver decided to take the long route here so we got stuck in traffic, I was going to be late so I told him to let me out about half a mile away, it was quicker to walk.”

“And you got out of breath just walking?”

“No…..I ran across the car park, told ya I was going to be late.”

Franky couldn’t help but laugh, walking towards her with a mug in her hand, “coffee?”

“Thanks love, but it’s not funny.”

“I’m sorry Liz, but you have lightened the mood a little, just sit down already will ya?”

Liz huffed a little before walking to her desk, dropping her bag on the floor she sat in her chair, her eyes flitting between Bea and Franky,

“One of you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

Bea looked at Franky, Liz needed to be told but Bea was still worried about Allie and besides Franky had more information than she did anyway. Franky poured another two coffees then resumed her seat, passing a coffee to Bea she looked over at Liz and began explaining everything that was going on that day. Bea wasn’t paying attention to anything around her, she wanted to get the day over with she didn’t want to be sitting around the office waiting for a phone call. Who knew what Dana, Channing and Ferguson were capable of? Sure Channing and Ferguson were in prison on remand and right at that current moment Dana was sitting in the police station, but no matter what she was worried. Her worried and fearful thoughts looped around in her mind until there was no room for anything else. This was not going to beat her, it was a mess and she wished they had never gotten involved, ‘hindsight is a wonderful thing’ she thought to herself. But this has been what her life has always been about, taking her from one uncomfortable place to another, she has another chance to be brave or move with her fears like a leaf in a river. She knew all too well that sometimes she did flow like that leaf, but she had more in her life now than she ever dreamed possible and she wasn’t going to let her fear of what might happen take control, she was going to be strong, make everyone around her proud of her when she took control, she was going to become the river and direct her own course even when worry and fear try to blacken out the light. She was suddenly yanked from her racing thoughts by Franky clicking her fingers in front of her face.

“Fuck sake Red…..keep your head in the game will ya?”

“Sorry, I was just thinking.”

“Yer bout blondie no doubt, your at work now keep it clean would ya?”

“Fuck off Franky.”

Franky’s phone started ringing before she could say anything else.

\------------------------------

Allie was trying to hard not to worry about what might be ahead, the second Bea left the house her anxiety kicked into high gear, suddenly it felt like she had been hooked up to an cattle fence, not enough voltage to kill but sufficient enough to make things really uncomfortable. She knew this was the downside of knowing that things were askew, she would give anything to go back to living in blissful ignorance, but that was now impossible. If only she hadn’t gone to the shelter in the first place to see Dana she wouldn’t be feeling this way now, she would never have gone back to see her and she would never have heard the words that came out of her mouth because she would never have said them to her. She took a quick shower and got ready for work, tempted to call Bea just to hear her voice, she didn’t have to be close to make her feel better, feel safe, all she needed was just to hear her voice and the clouds would clear for a while and she could think straight again. She sat on the bed looking down at her phone in her hand debating internally if she should call her eventually deciding that for now she would try and just suck it up, if it got too much she would call her, right now it was just about bearable. There was nothing else for her to do other than breathe, walk out of the house and head to work and try to figure things out just a little at a time.

Arriving at the bar Will was already there, standing outside the front of the bar with his builder laughing and joking. The restaurant had been built really quickly and it was now almost finished. The finishing touches to the main bar would be finished by Monday afternoon at the latest. Allie headed over to Will with a smile on her face, that fake smile that once upon a time she found herself constantly wearing, today it was just to try and hide the anxiety and pain she was trying to hide so people wouldn’t start to question her, too much attention right now was not required.

“Allie….it’s not gonna be long now.”

“That’s great Will…..could I have a word with you in the office when you’ve finished up here?”

“Yer, anything wrong?”

“I just need a word in private that’s all.”

“No problem, I’ll be in soon.”

Walking round to the side door she went straight to the office and sat down remembering what Bea had said to her earlier, she knew she had to tell Will that she may have to take off during a shift, but it wasn’t just that, it was only fair that she told him what had happened, he had taken a chance on her, helped her out, given her extra time off. She wasn’t about to keep this from him, he was a great boss and friend and she trusted him. Sitting there alone the only sounds she could hear were those from the bar as the contractors carried on working she once more became distracted by her thoughts, her inner dialogue, whispering to her, “everything is going wrong, turning to shit, there’s no way back from this, you’ve fucked up again.” The air in the room seemed to become thicker and it made it harder to breath. Her thoughts scattered as if there were an electrical storm in her head, way too many short circuits stopping her from making sense of it all. And her inner dialogue still nagging at her, “it’s over, why don’t you just give up, run away while you still can.”

Will walked into the office a few minutes later finding Allie staring into space, having already guessed that the reason she wanted to talk to him was something to do with the case that Bea and Franky were working on he sat down in another chair and cleared his throat, getting no reaction he sat for a couple of minutes before speaking quietly to her.

“Allie…..Allie…..Allie.”

She looked over at him slightly shaking her head.

“Sorry Will I didn’t hear you come in, I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“I can see that, if you want to talk about it I’m here for you, if you need anything, anything at all I’ll help anyway I can.”

Allie smiled a small smile at him before dropping her eyes to the floor and explaining the whole thing to him. Will sat there listening intently to everything she said without interruption until she finally finished and dropped her head.

“If you need time off all you have to do is say, I’ll cover your shifts myself if I have to, if you want to keep busy that’s fine, but please if you need to talk just know I’m here and I’ll listen to you. If you need to leave in a hurry that’s not going to be a problem. I’ll be here for you, for Bea and Franky if any of you need me.”

“Thanks Will, that means a lot, now I guess I should get started setting the bar up.”

\------------------------------

Arriving at the police station Bea and Franky were met by Detective Ayoub as soon as they walked in.

“I hope you didn’t mind meeting here, I’d much preferred to have gone to your office but it’s crazy today, I’ve got detectives all over the place. We’ve got statements from most of the women who worked at the brothel all saying that Dana was in charge and some of the things they say about her really make my skin crawl.”

“It’s no problem really although I’m not sure why you wanted us here.” Franky shrugged.

“Just wanted to keep you in the loop, you both did so much work on this case, without the both of you, and David, we wouldn’t be at this stage now.”

“We only did what we were asked to do.” Bea answered honestly.

“You’re too modest Bea, without you we never would have worked out Dana’s real role in everything. You put so much into this case, I know it’s difficult for you, well for you and Allie since she knew Dana from before.”

“Yer, it’s not the easiest situation especially for Allie.”

“Honestly I’m trying to keep her out of this as much as I can but I think I really will have to speak to her sooner rather than later. For now though I think you would both be more comfortable in my office while you wait, I’m just waiting to find out what Jesper had to say before we speak to Dana.”

Detective Ayoub walked them through the station to her office chatting with Franky on the way as Bea followed on behind them. She was apprehensive but unafraid, being in the police station was the jolt she needed to know that they were probably walking into a storm, but not so much that every step she took was hindered. If anything the thought that Dana would get what was coming to her was giving her the courage she needed to keep moving, she wasn’t a fool, she knew that few good things in life come without some cost to the self. Reaching the office the detective got them both a coffee before leaving and closing the door behind her as she left. As she returned to the larger outer office, Bea and Franky just sat looking at each other, no words right then were needed.

  
Sitting in silence they can hear the discussions and deliberations of the detectives. Today hopefully they would find out for sure what was going to happen with Dana, taking a sip of her coffee Bea felt the fear that sat in her chest but there was none in her heart. It was just a waiting game until they knew for sure and she hoped she would be going home with some news that would help calm Allies fears and anxieties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still not overly confident when I will get another chapter written but I'm going to try and stick with it, this chapter helped me get a lot of thoughts out and I appreciate that it's probably not everyone's cup of tea.


	79. Chapter 79

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter, I've struggled to concentrate and also struggled to make the words make sense in my head, I've also had flu! Think I'm about back to normal now. I've tried to put the whole Dana saga to bed so she shouldn't be making another appearance, or will she? Not the longest of chapters either but in all honesty I ran out of ideas to keep it going any longer.

Nils Jesper had given the detectives the a full and comprehensive statement regarding Dana’s involvement in the business. He had sold her well and truly out, she could argue all she liked there was no getting out of it. Jesper had gone further than the detective had expected, admitting that he had a lock up where he had kept a huge amount of paperwork that Channing and Ferguson had tasked him to destroy, they had underestimated his intelligence, to the pair of them he was nothing more than a hired thug who would do their bidding without question. The detectives had found Jesper to be a very complex character, he was tough, he wore that outer shell well and most people did not look any further than what was on the surface of the man, Channing and Ferguson certainly hadn’t, hidden beneath that exterior was a thinker, a watcher of people, he would anticipate his opponents next move and quickly work out how to turn things to his advantage, Channing and Ferguson had put their trust in him, and they never thought to question him for a second as he wasn’t a talker, at least not to them, they barked out orders and he would comply without uttering a single word, he made them both believe that he did everything they asked leaving them with a false sense of security, they both believed that if anything happened then they could pin the whole thing on him, they hadn’t counted on him actually knowing them both so well. They had always thought that they had kept their distance from him, distance wasn’t a problem for a people watcher, his silence wasn’t out of fear, his silence gave him a greater capacity to observe, and he knew the pair, their plans for him and all the girls. They had mistaken him for something he really wasn’t, the detectives saw through him, never mistaking his complexity for a lack of intelligence, with Jesper the two went hand in hand. Having given his written consent for the detectives to go to his lock up and remove all it contained he had just asked to be returned to his cell.

It was the contents of this lock up that Bea and Franky could hear the detectives in the outer office discussing. When Jesper had promised them a wealth of evidence, mainly against Channing and Ferguson, he hadn’t even know himself that it was more like a gold mine. He truly had no appreciation for the things he had saved, boxes and folders crammed full, but right at that moment the most important thing was finding everything that tied Dana in. Opening a box Detective Ayoub came face to face with a copy of Dana’s prison record, nothing strange on the face of it until she opened it, flicking through it she came across a few pages of hand written notes all in Ferguson’s distinctive handwriting. Sitting down she read the notes, they detailed how long after she had been released before she was brought to the brothel, unsurprisingly she had worked at the brothel, she had been compliant with Ferguson’s requests and seemingly she had taken a liking to her and shown her how things worked. It seemed as though every detail had been recorded until the time that she had moved from the brothel in St Kilda to the brothel in Kingston. Placing the file down she went back to the box finding more detailed notes, this time they were in Dana’s handwriting, lists of the girls she had working there, money that was taken, details of the girls who got out of hand and had to be dealt with. Unlike Ferguson who would just draw a line through a girls name in red ink Dana had written at the side of their name the girls fate as one by one they had gone missing only to be replaced by a new girl. Another detective digging through the boxes found even more ex prisoners files, and more detailed notes from the other brothels.

“It seems to me that Jesper knew what he was doing, Dana has no way out of this now,” Detective Ayoub said as she stood up from the chair she had been sitting in.

Grabbing one of the now empty boxes she collected everything together that had anything to do with Dana’s involvement and headed back to her office where Franky and Bea were still sat in silence, a silence that almost made Bea’s blood run cold. Franky got up from her seat and walked towards the window, she knows the noise coming from outside the office must mean they have found something, yet all they can do is wait. Franky turned away from the window, not caring to see the world outside, she stared at the blank white wall in front of her and tried to review the notes in her mind certain that they should have seen this mess coming as soon as they had taken the case on, feeling the tension and anxiety building up in the pit of her stomach, her mind was empty of any and all thoughts, she could no longer focus on the reason that they were here. Before panic could set in and eat her alive she remembered the breathing exercises that she used at times to help her relax, regaining her steady heartbeat as she breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth. Waiting was easier for Bea, she’d had all the practice she needed waiting for the next slap, punch or kick, to Franky a few hours was worse than waiting a week or more. Beas concept of time was different, she sat there, let her mind empty as much as she possibly could.

“You think they really have anything on her?” Franky asked as she sat down again.

“Sounds like they have something, calm down Franky we’ll know soon enough.”

“But what if…..”

“Franky just stop right there….we both knew this was going to be a waiting game, shit I could be back at the office looking for someone’s father, and honestly even though I hate that kind of work I’d rather be doing that right now than just sitting here with you and your ‘what if’s’, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Franky just nodded before standing up again.

Bea couldn’t wait to get out of that stuffy office, knowing too well that the longer they sat there Franky would come up with a million different ‘what if’ scenarios and she would need feedback on every single one of them. She wished she could send Franky back to the office, waiting on her own was simple, with Franky in tow it was going to be exhausting the longer they were there.

Hearing footsteps approaching the office door Franky turned around eyeing the door as Bea shifted her position in her chair, impatiently tapping her foot on the floor as the door opened and Detective Ayoub walked in carrying a box.

“You have something right?” Franky said a little nervously.

“Calm down Franky and take a seat,…..honestly, Dana is not walking out of here today, Jesper has really come up with the goods this time.”

“So she’ll be charged?” Bea asked

“I’d say that she most certainly will be, hopefully when she sees what we have she’ll stop playing games, but knowing her track record she won’t.”

“So does that mean you won’t need a statement from Allie?”

“I wish I could say no, unfortunately we will still need to speak to her, Allie was the only person Dana admitted her involvement to, Jackie is a corroborating witness as she heard what she said to Allie. I know you would rather us keep her out of this and there maybe a chance that a statement will be as far as we have to take it, I think the evidence will be enough when we put the case before the DPP, but witness statements will give us a more convincing case.”

“So what you mean is that because all the other statements you have are from Jesper and other prostitutes their statements don’t mean as much?” Franky asked as she shook her head.

“No not at all, Jesper has a long criminal history, mainly for assault, and you have to remember that the other women are in rehab and their judgement can be slightly impaired, Allie on the other hand has been clean for a few months, holds down a job and has a stable home and a stable relationship.”

Bea ran her hands through her hair, the argument the detective put forward made a lot of sense but it didn’t quash her anxieties.

“Now I imagine that you would rather not be sitting in here so I’ll take you to the canteen, you’ll be more comfortable there and you can get something to eat and drink. We’ll be interviewing Dana very soon.”

Bea and Franky both just nodded their heads, getting up from their seats they followed Detective Ayoub out of the office, noticing the amount of boxes and files that were scattered over the desk tops as they passed by.

\------------------------------

Entering the interview room Detective Ayoub nodded to the uniformed office who was in the room then placed the box down on the floor at the side of her chair before turning her attention to Dana.

“I’m sorry for the delay, I hope my colleagues have been looking after you.”

“Hmmm, yer, they have I suppose.”

“Good, well just waiting for another of my colleagues to join me, in the mean time I believe it’s almost lunch time, can I get you a sandwich?”

“Yer, I am kinda hungry.”

Detective Ayoub left the room again, returning a few minutes later with a can of Coke and a sandwich for Dana. Placing the items on the table in front of Dana before taking her seat. Dana looked across at the detective nervously before opening the sandwich, she ate as if the sandwich were poisoned, each bite smaller than the last. Pausing for a moment as she opened the can of Coke and taking a large gulp, her eyes met with the detectives briefly before turning her attention back to the sandwich in her hand, nibbling at it as is she were afraid to eat. Before she finished another detective entered the room, nodded to the uniformed officer who quickly exited the room. The interview needed to be done, as she she wasn’t under arrest yet their 8 hour window for keeping a person who had voluntarily accompanied them to the police station would be up in 3 hours. Allowing her time to finish eating and giving her a bathroom break Detective Ayoub quickly started the interview. Of course she denied any involvement, maintaining that she had been there against her will. Everything she was saying they had expected her to say, but they knew that it didn’t add up.

  
Giving her time to tell them her side of the story didn’t take long, as soon as she saw the opportunity Detective Ayoub asked how she explained that she hadn’t been given drugs, her face turned white as her breath becoming rapid and shallow, she could feel her pulse pounding in her temples. Dana said nothing as Detective Ayoub retrieved the box from the floor and placed it on the table before pulling out its contents, showing Dana everything that they had and questioning her about every piece of evidence, she stayed silent, she couldn’t explain any of this away all she could do was wonder where it all came from. The questions ceased and both detectives just sat there, silence lingered in the air as the room suddenly became increasingly claustrophobic, a small sigh of anxiety fell from Dana’s mouth before she straightened herself up in her seat, there were no more lies to be told all she could hope for was a lighter sentence in return for her cooperation, and that they wouldn’t find the money she had stolen. An hour later she had told the detectives everything she could. No sooner had she finished she found herself under arrest and being led through to the custody suite, booked in, fingerprinted and photographed and after being formally charged she now found herself sitting alone in a cell, the last place she had imagined she would be that day.

\------------------------------

Bea and Franky were sitting across from each other both wondering if Dana really would admit her part in the whole sordid mess that they had stumbled across.

“You reckon we’re gonna be sat here much longer Red?”

“I don’t know, I hope not.”

“Fucking waste of time don’t ya think?”

“Huh, what is?”

“Sitting here, they have something on her they have to, so why the hell are we here, they ain’t shown us shit.”

“Franky you know how this goes, Dana came in voluntarily, that means she can only be kept here for 8 hours, and even then she’s not under arrest she can ask to leave anytime and there’s nothing they can do to stop her leaving…..except arrest her, and if they don’t have the evidence they can’t arrest her.”

“Yer but what do you reckon they will charge her with?”

“Fuck really you’re asking me like I’m an expert? I don’t fucking know, wait for Detective Ayoub to get back to us.”

They sat there for a few more minutes knee deep in silence, each passing moment only leading to the next until the door swung open and a smiling Detective Ayoub appeared.

“She’s done!”

“She admitted everything?” Franky asked

Grabbing a coffee Detective Ayoub took a seat next to Bea.

“She wasn’t going to, gave us a story that had more holes in it than Swiss cheese.”

“What convinced her to tell the truth?” Bea asked getting frustrated by the lack of a real explanation.

“Jesper’s evidence sealed it, lets go back to my office and I’ll show you both, you wouldn’t believe what that guy has on them, believe me there are going to be more arrests after this.”

  
Franky let out a slow controlled breath as they followed her back to her office, she was walking like a clockwork soldier, she gave her shoulders a wiggle as she allowed her stride to slacken to a more comfortable pace. Even then any onlooker with a keen eye would see that she was a walking advertisement for tension. Her eyes darted around, taking in all of their surroundings, they moved with an alertness that came with heavy stress and her hands remained clenched by a subconscious demand to be ready for anything. Arriving at the office they went in and sat down,

“So what evidence do you actually have?”

\------------------------------

Franky, as a general rule, hid her emotions, but now after getting the news they had been waiting for that rule was being broken, she was excited, they had started working the case expecting nothing more than to find another missing person, yet they had stumbled into a huge shit storm and neither of them had expected it to end this way. The blank expression she had worn the whole time they were in the police station had been replaced with a huge smile and excitement poured out of her like sunshine through fine white linen, she was glowing from the inside out. She had a good feeling about how things were now going, nothing that felt this good could possibly go wrong, not today at least.

“Can ya really believe all that paperwork fucking Jesper had kept?”

“Guess he knew he might need it one day to save his own ass.”

“Yer but come on, who would even think to keep all that shit? That guy is a fucking classic, even the detectives couldn’t get their heads round it all. Fuck I’d love to see what else they’ve got, this is getting bigger by the day.”

“Calm down would ya Franky, we’ve done our job.”

“Ya sayin ya not even curious?”

“I’m not saying that at all, course I’m curious, but it’s out of our hands now, we got dragged into this, honestly if you knew that things would end up like this would you have wanted to take the case on?”

“Puttin it like that then na, I would have fuckin run as fast as I could.”

“So let’s just get back to work, if Detective Ayoub wants to keep you in the loop that’s fine, do what you feel is right for you but unless it involves me or Allie I don’t really care now, Dana is done and so am I.”

“Right, got it……so ya still working on tracing that woman’s dad?”

“Hmmm, not my favourite kind of work, could do with a hand if your not busy.”

“Yer sure Red, just let me know what ya need and I’ll be all over it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am already working on the next chapter, but I've got a pretty busy rest of the week ahead of me, but I'll get it written as soon as I can.


	80. Chapter 80

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have managed to get this chapter finished, a day later than I expected to get it finished, but here it is.

It was Friday afternoon, Franky had kept in touch with Detective Ayoub and she had filled in a few more missing details, there had been more arrests, a million lies and excuses that had been shot down within seconds as soon as the evidence had been placed on the table mostly who ever was being interviewed held their hands up and given full truthful statements.

Franky had been helping Bea with her case when she could and David had spent a full day working with her, they were now almost certain that they had found the right person, a long way from where he was last known to be. Bea was checking over the details before she was going to call her client and ask her to come into the office when her phone rang, quickly scanning the screen she saw Kaz’s name, “fuck,” she said to herself, the sudden realization hitting her that the previous evening Kaz had called to let her know that the jury in Harry’s trial had retired to consider their verdict, she stared at her phone for a few seconds as her stomach shifted uneasily before picking it up and answering,

“Kaz, have we got a verdict yet?”

“Oh yer, are ya sitting down?”

“Yer I am, fuck, please tell me he hasn’t got away with it, he has hasn’t he? That slimy little rat could get out of anything.”

“Bea, he’s got away with nothing, the verdict was guilty.”

“Yer, I just knew……wait what? Guilty?”

“GUILTY!”

“I….I…..fuck, really?......what was his sentence?”

“Unfortunately we won’t know until Monday, the judge wants time to consider his sentence, I think that means its likely to be a lot longer than we thought.”

“Better not celebrate too early then had we? But having said that why don’t we meet up at the bar before Allie finishes her shift and tell her together, at least he’s one problem I hope we aren’t going to have to deal with for a while.”

“Sounds good to me, what time?”

“I’ve got to call a client and arrange a meeting…….shall we say 4pm?”

“Fine with me, I’ll see you there.”

Bea called her client, scheduling an appointment for 9:15am on Monday, her client had wanted a later meeting but Bea had stressed that she would be busy the rest of the day so she reluctantly agreed. Bea couldn’t understand why she didn’t sound happier when she had told her she had good news, maybe she had changed her mind about finding her father was the only answer she could come up with but it was too late now, his details were sitting in a file on her desk. After checking her emails she left her office, finding Franky and Liz having a hushed conversation over a cup of coffee.

“So what’s going on here then?”

“What nothing, thought you were busy and we didn’t want to disturb ya, plus ya didn’t want anymore details on the Channing case.”

“Ahh that……nope, I really don’t need to keep hearing about it.”

“So, you headin out Red?”

“In a few, finished up my case, before I forget Liz my client will be in 9:15am Monday morning for a meeting.”

“I’ll pencil her in in the diary, what was her name again?”

“Oh yer, sorry Liz, Imogen, Imogen Fessler.”

“Fuck that’s a mouth full ain’t it?” Franky smirked.

“Yer whatever Franky, actually I’m glad your both here, Kaz called me a while ago….”

“Everything alright love? Oh my, with all that’s been going on I forgot, Harry’s trial, how stupid of me to forget about that.”

“It’s ok, he was found guilty.”

“No fucking shit he was guilty, bout time he gets what’s coming to him the fucking prick.”

“Wanna let me finish Franky?.......As I said he’s been found guilty, the judge wanted time to consider his sentence so he’s back in court on Monday for sentencing.”

“Hell yer, ya know that means he’s probably gonna get the book thrown at him don’t ya?”

“I am aware of that Franky, anyway I’m gonna head out, I’m meeting Kaz at the bar and we’re gonna tell Allie the news.”

“That’s good love, I’m sure the pair of you could use some good news, especially Allie.”

“We need some Liz, I’m just about sick of all the shit now.”

\------------------------------

When Bea pulled up outside the bar Kaz was already there, lent against her car a huge smile on her face, in the short time that Bea had known her she had rarely seen Kaz smile and the look on her face was just a little unsettling, she didn’t like Kaz much, yet even with everything that had happened she didn’t really dislike her, she could be a little intrusive and more often than not argumentative but it was always clear to Bea that those mannerisms were due to nothing more than ignorance on her part not any intent to always be objectionable. Harry’s trial had been the last thing on Beas mind over the last few days and really she was happy that Kaz had called her. Getting out of her car she headed over to her,

“Before we go in be honest with me was the guilty verdict a close call?”

“It was a slam dunk, unanimous verdict, his lawyer didn’t seem to have a clue, if he did he did a damn good job of playing dumb, the prosecution was all over every argument his defence put forward.”

“Good…….shall we go in?”

Heading round to the back door they walked in, both scanning behind the bar and finding only Shane there who spotted them both straight away, as they walked over to the bar he was ahead of them, before either of them had taken a seat he placed two bottles of beer on the bar.

“Allies in the office, skiving if ya ask me, I’ll let her know you’re here.”

Neither of them had a chance to say a word before he took off in the direction of the office. A few moments later Shane reappeared with Allie in tow, her eyes landing on the Bea the second she came into view, she was totally oblivious to Kaz’s presence, everything else around her just faded into shadows of light and dark.

“Hey you, shouldn’t you be at work?”

“Theoretically I guess I should, but I’ve finished the case I was working on and when Kaz called I suggested we come over together and tell you the news about Harry trial.”

“Shit, I forgot about that.”

Turning her head slightly she saw Kaz looking at her, her eyes giving her a glare that would once have frozen her to the bone, Allie laughed a little as she compared that look in her mind to being naked in the middle of a hailstorm, every piece of ice would be like a frosted dagger cutting into her skin. But Kaz no longer had that hold over her, and as much as Allie loved her for everything she had done for her she hated her for the things she had said and done.

“Sorry Kaz, didn’t see you sat there.”

“Obviously!”

“So tell me what happened?”

Bea gestured to Kaz to tell Allie the whole story, and Allie did try to pay more attention to Kaz but having Bea sat in close proximity, with only an hour left of her shift was proving more than a little distracting. After a minute or two Allie found her inner will to pay more attention to Kaz, making contact with eyes that twinkled with the sharp gleam of a tiger stalking her prey, her gaze today seemed somehow to be both that of a wise professor and a blood thirsty murderer, that look called for respect and acknowledgement and promised severe consequences if either were denied to her. Allie listened as she told her the full weeks events in court before getting to the events of the day and the guilty verdict. The look in Kaz’s eyes seemed to change once she got to the end of her long drawn out recollections of the week, her gaze turned to one that had the power to dissect her bit by bit with the least bit of care, and Allie suddenly felt as though there was nothing she could hide from her no matter how hard she tried, her eyes held no warmth, she looked like she was no longer human but a machine, a high functioning computer, her eyes would always sell her out no matter how hard she tried to appear amiable and warm.

“So, what does that mean then? Will he get more prison time?”

Just those two questions out of Allies mouth seemed to change the atmosphere, they were simple questions but she was speaking directly to Kaz, something she had to admit she had avoided for a while. Allie noticed the way her eyebrows raised a centimetre or two and they were lined with something between worry and concern, yet her eyes even seemed to twinkle in amusement.

“As long as the judge isn’t as complete fool, or totally mad, he’ll get years. None of us will have anything to worry about, he’ll be lucky if he gets out before he’s an old man, if he gets out.”

“And that means what exactly?” Allie asked her voice tinged with concern.

“Nothing, just an observation, he has no leverage in prison anymore, that’s all I mean.”

Allie wasn’t totally convinced by that answer but decided to let it go, she was in no mood to cause an argument. She knew that Kaz had plenty of contacts and just hoped that she wouldn’t be up to something once this whole thing was over. Finishing her beer Kaz made her excuses and left leaving Bea and Allie almost alone, the bar was relatively empty, Shane was busy organising something at the other end of the bar and there were only the usual few regulars in at that time of day.

“Are you staying babe?”

“I may as well, you only have twenty minutes left of your shift.” Bea answered as she glanced at the clock behind the bar.

“Yer thankfully, it’s been this quiet all day, I’ll be glad when the restaurant is finally ready to open.”

“Why the restaurant?”

“Will said he’s not opening the main bar until he opens the restaurant, he wants to have a grand opening, or something like that, they’ve started fitting the restaurant out already, you wouldn’t think it was possible for it to be built this quickly would ya?”

“Normally no, but Will has contacts all over the place, seems they even extend into the building trade.” Bea laughed.

\------------------------------

Saturday was proving to be the most uneventful day ever, Bea had spent some time in her office even though she had nothing to do. She eventually went in search of Franky who was sitting behind her desk, chair turned towards the window, staring out at absolutely nothing. Bea cleared her throat making Franky almost jump out of her seat.

“Jesus Red, ya can’t just knock like a normal person?”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“Well if it’s fun ya want ya need to go drag blondie away from the bar.”

“Whatever Franky…..nothing to do?”

“Na, finished everything about half an hour ago, you?”

“Haven’t had anything to do since yesterday, god I hate having nothing to do!”

“You’re thinking too much Red.”

“Huh?”

“About Harry’s sentencing, stop thinking about it, a guilty verdict is a guilty verdict, he’s gettin more time no matter how much ya think about it, you should be pleased.”

“I am, anything that keeps him where he is is a good thing, but it didn’t stop him before and it won’t stop him now, if he wants to get to me he’ll find a way we both know that,” Bea answered as she took a seat across from Franky.

“Red, now you listen to me, and listen good cos I’m not planning on repeating myself. He’s where he belongs and the fucker is going to stay there for a long time to come. He can try his hardest to get to ya but look what ya have, a successful business, a daughter who’s every inch as stubborn, annoying, intelligent, compassionate and loving as her mum. And you have something that all of us hoped for ya but never thought would happen because you had built a wall around yourself so fucking high and impenetrable, you have someone ya love, someone who looks at you like there is no one else on the fucking planet but you, Allie loves ya, she looks at ya like ya the most precious thing ever to be discovered in the whole world, sometimes I reckon ya don’t see it, but don’t you dare let go of that because what ya have is special, magical even…..and makes me want to puke half the time.”

Bea could do nothing for a few seconds except shake her head.

“You know Franky that was almost the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me…..then you just had to go and spoil it.”

Franky shrugged, “ya know me red, can’t be serious and all deep and meaningful, just ain’t my style, but remember what I said.”

“I’ll try, just have to try and erase the last comment, now how about all three of us head out for lunch?”

\------------------------------

By 1:30pm the three of them were sat drinking coffee and chatting, there was absolutely nothing to do, the place was tidy, Liz had been that bored that morning that she had busied herself reorganising the filing cabinets, not that they needed it, Liz was always on top of everything Bea and Franky could throw in her direction she just needed to keep busy or fall asleep at her desk.

“You think people are avoiding our office on purpose Red?”

“No, why would they? It’s just slow, and it doesn’t help that we had to turn new clients away because that shit kept us so busy.”

“Yer, guess ya right.”

“I don’t know about the pair of you but I’m gonna head home, at least I can find something to do there.”

“You sure about that love, we could get some calls.”

“Na Liz, we won’t, and wouldn’t you both rather head off?”

They all agreed, they could sit there until four drinking even more coffee than was good for them or head home, the latter being the most preferable choice to them all.

After leaving the office Bea decided that she was going to cook something special for Allie, the case had gotten in the way of them spending any real quality time together, sure they had had evenings in front of the tv but to Bea that wasn’t really enough and now it was over she planned on making it up to her anyway she could. Pulling into the supermarket car park she was still a little unsure what she wanted to make for dinner, there was a little food in the house but after thinking a little longer she decided and most of the ingredients she knew they didn’t have. The supermarket was crowded, hardly surprising as it was Saturday afternoon. Each person in the crowd seemed to Bea to move as if unseen hands were dragging them this way or that, pulling their eyes to one thing then another. All the time each person responded and moved in predictable ways, each of them wanting to achieve the same goal, to get out of there as soon as possible. She slipped into the crowd, she loved the feeling of anonymity being surrounded by other people gave her, like she was hiding in the shadows of a thousand faces. She got everything she needed much faster than she expected, within 20 minutes she was back in the car and headed for her favourite bakery to pick up something for dessert, she would have make it herself but wanted time alone at home before Allie got in to get everything ready and too much cooking was not part of that plan.

Pulling into the driveway she noted the time, almost 2:30pm, ‘plenty of time,’ she thought to herself. Getting out of the car she leaned back in to retrieve the bag and box that she had placed on the passenger seat, locking the car she headed straight for the front door. Once inside she went straight to the kitchen putting the things she had in her hands on the counter top before running off upstairs to grab a shower. After the hustle and bustle of the supermarket she loved the sensation of the hot steamy water as it hit her body, calming her, taking her mind off everything that consumed almost her every waking thought, all the things that she no longer cared about in the slightest. Her thoughts drifted back to Allie and what Franky had said to her earlier that day, her mind swirled, she loved being able to wash the days events away from her, it felt like standing under an everlasting warm waterfall even though it had to come to an end. Turning the water off she exited the shower, grabbing her towel, drying herself off before going back to the bedroom to get dressed.

Once back in the kitchen she she turned on the radio, made herself a coffee and made a start on dinner preparations. The time passed quickly as she busied herself, after dinner prep she did a quick sweep of the living room tidying things away as she went before turning her attention to the dining room to set the table. Before she knew it she heard the front door opening, leaving the dining room she closed the door behind her making her way over to where Allie was still standing, her back facing her as she kicked off her shoes.

“You know your not quite as sneaky as you used to be,” Allie giggled

“I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you,” Bea answered as she watched her turn to face her before inching forward and wrapping her arms around her waist.

This was what she had missed most, being home before Allie got there, not having so much in her head that just the simple act of greeting her at the door was too much of an effort. In her embrace the world stopped turning, there was no time, her mind was finally at peace. With everything that had been happening she felt as if she had forgotten what Allies love really was, pure, unselfish, undemanding and free. She felt her body press closer to hers, this was the kind of love she had been waiting for all her life.

“You go and have a shower and get changed and I’ll get dinner started.”

“Oh…..I was hoping for a pizza and a night in front of the tv.”

“Ok, if that’s what you really want,” Bea answered the disappointment evident in her voice.

“Babe, I’m kidding, I just didn’t think you would feel like cooking, but if you have something in mind then I’m not going to turn your cooking down you know that.”

“Good…..now get gone, it won’t be too long.”

“Ooooh, so bossy today…..I’m going, won’t be too long.”

Bea watched on as Allie disappeared up the stairs before she went back to the kitchen to start cooking. 25 minutes later Bea heard Allie walking back down the stairs, not wanting her in the kitchen she leaned on the door frame,

“What are you up to?”

“Nothing much, why don’t you sit in the dining room? Dinner will only be a couple more minutes.”

“Ok, but what’s the occasion?”

“I’m just happy, do I need anymore of a reason than that?”

“I guess not,” Allie shrugged as she entered the dining room.

After a few minutes Bea walked into the dining room two bowls of Parmesan risotto with roasted shrimp in hand,

“I hope your going to like this,” she said as she placed a bowl down in front of Allie.

“I’m sure I’m going to it looks delicious.”

Bea took a seat opposite Allie as they both started eating. They ate in silence, stealing glances at each other, holding Allies gaze for a little longer she couldn’t believe that it felt like forever since she last looked into her eyes, they were stunning. Saying they were blue was the biggest understatement. They reminded her of the sea floor in which she could be swimming in at any second, her eyes were extravagant. The twinkle in those eyes was the most beautiful thing she could ever hope to witness in her lifetime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will get another chapter finished sooner rather than later I hope.


	81. Chapter 81

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaz turns up with some news, but is it the truth?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to get this finished yesterday but that didn't go to plan, today has been a little chaotic but I've managed to finish it, and I'm not even at home!
> 
> Just a warning, this chapter is probably NSFW.

Allies eyes flew open, lifting her head slightly to look over at the alarm clock it stared back at her in the dark indicating that it was just after 4am, blinking a couple of times she lay her head back in its original resting place on Beas shoulder as she closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. After 20 minutes of laying there she was frustrated, she should be asleep wrapped in the arms of the woman she loved, except she wasn’t she was wide awake, yet still in Beas arms. Slowly she extracted herself from her embrace only to sit up, back resting against the headboard as her eyes wondered back towards the sleeping form of the woman she would do anything for. In the darkness of their room everything in it were just shapes in monochrome, it could be a set in a black and white movie. Soon enough though the sun would kiss the sky with an orange glow, igniting a new dawn filled with the early morning chorus of birds as the city slowly came back to life.

It was too early to get up, not that she wanted to, as a rule Bea would always be the first to wake up, Allie could and often did sleep through the alarm clock only to be woken up when it was clear that she had no intention of getting out of bed. She had no idea why she woke so early, the previous evening she had felt so happy and content, even though she knew that she would still have to give her statement to the police, something they seemed to be dragging their heels on, but just the two of them being together, eating together, leaving the dirty dishes on the kitchen counter with every intention to do them later but never getting round to it. Relaxing on the sofa with a glass of wine, the tv on but neither of them paying any attention to it choosing instead to snuggle up together, saying everything they needed to say to each other without hardly a word uttered, before finally sinking into bed, holding each other as they drifted off to sleep. Right there in the early hours of the morning Allie couldn’t help her mind from wondering off, being pulled in more than one direction at the same time until she finally settled on the thing that bothered her most, Dana. She didn’t want to think about anything that included her yet she couldn’t help it, how could she have been so blind? Why did she not see what she had become? We’re they ever really friends? Memories of the times they had shared in the past tortured her to her soul. She couldn’t escape them, run from them or hide from them, they were the monster under the bed that every young child was afraid of. She was afraid of everything her past held, all the bad memories that she could never outrun. They were like sharp needle points, piercing her skin, she couldn’t fight back all she could do was endure the pain one second at a time. All those memories were her worst enemy, they would destroy her if she was alone, but she wasn’t, she looked down at Bea who was still peacefully sleeping by her side.She slowly closed her eyes again trying to think of something else, not noticing that Bea was starting to stir.

Bea half opened her eyes and closed them just as quick. The carousel of random thoughts and ideas spinning in her head, a very subtle awareness of where she is flows into her mind somewhere under the constant flow of thoughts that have a loose connection to her now waking state. After a few seconds she tries to analyse them in a lethargic way. It seems in her sluggish mind that some of these ideas should be kept to ponder later, although deciding which are worthy of remembering is a problem, some seem to be composed as tough they come from a book she once read, the rest are just preposterous, in a few more seconds they are gone without a trace. Her eyelids flicker open to the unlit room, ‘too early,’ she thinks to herself as she closes them again, trying hard to will her mind to tumble back into her previous dream state. After a few minutes she opens her eyes again, now fully aware that Allie is no longer laying in her arms, lifting her head from the pillow she looks up seeing her sat, back to the headboard, eyes closed. Reaching out a little way she finds her hand and entwines their fingers.

“Is everything alright?.......Allie?”

“Hmmm…..sorry did I wake you?”

“No, but why are you sitting up? Come back down here and tell me what’s wrong.”

Gently easing herself back down into bed she turned on her side, her hand softly landing on Beas hip.

“I don’t know how to explain it, I woke up with so much on my mind, most of it doesn’t even make any sense.”

“You can talk to me, I don’t care if it doesn’t make any sense, I’ll always listen to you.”

“I know that…..it’s just all this stuff with Dana, and the police haven’t asked me for a statement yet, and, well….I don’t know, everything just keeps coming back, everything before we even met. I really don’t want to think about it but I can’t help it.”

“Allie, I’m not perfect, very far from it in fact, but I’d follow you to hell if that’s what it took to keep you safe. After Debbie not a single soul comes before you. I will stay with you for as long as you’ll have me, I’ll trust you and listen to your thoughts and fears, I’m certain we can ride out every storm that comes our way, but please don’t think I’m not here for you because I am and I always will be.”

“Believe me I know that babe, I love you more than I thought was possible. But none of this makes sense, I thought she couldn’t have changed that much but I was wrong. I can’t understand why I could have been so wrong about her, I can’t believe the things she must have done, and I know you know so much more than I do.”

“I love you too, and you’re right I do know a lot more and I honestly wish I didn’t, but I do know I would defend you with my life, comfort you when things are difficult and I’ll never give up on you. I’ll be here everyday, you know my faults, you know my anxieties, my triggers and the ghosts that haunt me and you’re still here. I don’t always have the answers for you, but I’ll always listen and I’ll always care, you never have to be alone in what scares you.”

Allie softly ran her hand up Beas arm resting it on her shoulder.

“Why are you always so good to me?”

“Oh, let me think about that would ya?”

“Seriously?”

“No! I don’t need to think about it at all, it’s because I love you you idiot.”

“Good answer.”

They lay looking at each other, the sadness in Allies eyes was still present and that broke Beas heart.

“Don’t look so sad Alliecat.”

Kissing her on the nose she pulled her a little closer before brushing a strand of soft blond hair out of her face. Allie sighed despondently and buried her head in Beas neck. Bea moved her hand around her waist pulling her closer, within seconds their bodies melded together. She could never imagine letting anyone but Allie be that close to her, Allie was different. She always had the right motivations, a purity to her even though she could be a little naive, but she was definitely the only flower in meadow in Beas eyes. Neither of them spoke, they just held each other as they both drifted off into peaceful sleep.

They both woke up at practically the same time a couple of hours later, moving her face away from Bea’s neck Allie softly smiled when she saw she was awake.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“I always feel better waking up with you.”

“After we've finished with all the boring stuff we do every Sunday is there anything you want to do?”

  
“I'll think about it, isn't there anything you want to do?”

“No, I don't care what we do as long as we do it together.”

“Right now I need a drink, you want anything?”

Bea just shook her head a little as Allie eased her way out of their embrace and got out of bed and headed down to the kitchen to get a glass of juice. Returning to the bedroom Bea was in the en suite, hearing Allie in the bedroom she walked back out, naked.

“Coming for a shower?”

“No, I have a much better idea, come back and lay on the bed.”

“But….”

“But nothing, it's Sunday, just humour me and don't argue.”

Rolling her eyes Bea did as she was told. She lay outstretched on the bed knowing exactly what the look in Allie’s eyes  meant. Allie stood at the bottom of the bed for a few seconds before stripping herself, her statuesque frame lean and exquisite was almost enough to take Bea’s breath away. Allie slowly crawled up Bea’s body, their eyes staring deep into the others as she got closer and closer to her face. Reaching her destination their lips met and Allie softly lowered her body on top of Bea’s, her tongue slipped between Bea’s lips as their breathing became harder and faster. Allie pushed herself far away enough from Bea to slip a hand between them to her breast, rolling her nipple between her thumb and finger before breaking their kiss and moving to her neck. Bea gasped as she nibbled her neck before moving lower to gently suck her nipple into her mouth then turning her attention to the other. She slowly kissed her way back down Bea’s body trying to kiss every inch of her silky soft skin before she reached her final destination, not wanting to take her time any longer her tongue landed directly on her clit, moving her hands up to try and hold her hips still. Bea could already feel her orgasm building, the heat in her whole body rising as she felt Allie’s hand slip from her hip and enter her with two fingers seconds later the wave of fire that had slowly been rising spread through her entire body as she came hard almost screaming Allie’s name. As her orgasm subsided Allie slowed her movements before slowly crawling back up Bea’s body, as Bea’s breathing began to return to normal Allie looked into her eyes before winking at her seductively. They kissed gently before it turned much more passionate again as Bea flipped her over, straddling her looking down at the most perfect woman she though she had ever seen, her hair looked like liquid sunshine as it splayed out on the pillow and the smile on her face made her look more like an angel than Bea ever thought possible.

Leaning in closer Bea gently nibbled her neck, nuzzling her ear and making her wriggle under her. Moving lower to her breast she sucked gently on her nipple as her hand moved over to the other one, Bea loved the feeling, Allie’s warm soft skin against her palm, feeling Allie’s breath quicken she lightly trailed her hand down her body to her stomach before trailing it lower, lightly running her fingers over her clit as she moved her hand lower slowly entering her with two fingers. “Fuck Bea,” Allie breathed as she built up a steady rhythm before moving her head so their lips ghosted over each other's. Allie’s hands found their way into her hair pulling her closer as they kiss, Allie’s tongue hungrily sliding into her mouth. “I want to taste you,” Bea whispered after she broke their kiss. Allie moved her hands from her hair, wrapping them round her holding her tighter. Moving her thumb she presses gently against her clit almost instantly pushing her over the edge. Allie threw her head back against the pillow and closed her eyes repeating Bea’s name over and over, Bea slowed her movements before removing her hand completely, but not moving as she waited for her to open her eyes. Allie slowly opened her eyes, looking at Bea dreamily.

“Do you actually know how much I love you?” Allie asked as Bea shifted her position to lay beside her.

“You know I've heard people describe love as an emotion we can't control, that it overwhelms all our logic and common sense. I had no plans on falling in love with anyone, let alone you, and I doubt you planned on falling in love with me. When we met it was overwhelmingly clear that neither of us were able to control what was happening between us. We fell in love despite our differences, our pasts and our demons. We created something so rare, so special and beautiful that I sometimes find it hard to fathom, for me, love like this has only ever happened once, and honestly every minute we spent together has become seared in my memory, I'll never forget a single moment of our time together. So if you feel even only half of that then yes I do know.”

Allie was silent for a minute, a silence that was as pure as any wintry blanket, only their rhythmic breathing broke the air.

“How is it that you can always put everything into words when it's just us?”

“I don't know, I guess I just need to try and make you understand how I feel and not shut you out like I do with most people.”

———————————————

An hour or so later they were walking the isles of the supermarket, later than they usually went but still early enough for it not to be really crowded.

“Why do you never make a list Bea?”

“Why don't you?”

“I've never thought about it until now.”

“Neither have I, but you know when Debs home it would be pointless anyway.”

“Yer that's true, I still don't know how she eats as much as she does.”

“Look who's talking, you're both as bad as each other, especially if it involves pizza,” Bea laughed.

After picking out the last few things they needed they paid and left the supermarket almost instantly running into Franky.

“Late this morning aren't ya?”

“And your on your own!”

“Yer well Gidge ain't feeling so crash hot this morning so I left her in bed.”

“So you're playing nurse then are ya Franky?” Allie giggled.

“Oh yer, very funny blondie, she's given me a fuckin list, like I don't know what we need.”

“Bet you don't stick to it though.”

“Fuck no, I do most of the cooking anyway think I know what we need, anyway better get my ass in there so I can get home. Good seein ya blondie and I'll see ya at work tomorra Red.”

After putting the shopping in the boot they headed home finding Kaz sat on the step when they arrived.

“What the fuck is she doing here, you didn't ask her come over did you Bea?”

“No, she said she'd call me tomorrow after Harry's sentencing.”

Seeing them both getting out of the car Kaz stood up and walked over to them.

“Have you heard?”

“You’ve lost me Kaz, heard what?”

“You haven't received a phone call from the prison?”

Retrieving her mobile from her pocked Bea looked at it just on the off chance it had rung and she hadn't heard it, nothing, no missed calls no new voice mails.

“I haven't had any calls while we've been out.”

“Fuck…..well I think we should go inside, I don't want to tell you this out here.”

“Kaz, honestly what's so serious? We get back from the doing the shopping and your here waiting for us,” Allie said getting annoyed.

“Let me help you take the bags in, I didn't want to interrupt your day but I really have to speak to you, both of you.”

They both agreed to let her help, wanting to get rid of her as soon as possible, it was the only day they got to spend the whole day together and any disruption to that time was neither welcomed or needed. Taking them into the kitchen Allie told Kaz as politely as she could manage to wait in the living room while they put everything away, she had been expecting her to try arguing but she didn't, not one word came from her mouth as she retreated to the sofa to wait.

“I don't like this, what do you think she wants?” Allie whispered.

“I don't know, but I think it may have something to do with Harry, she asked if the prison had called remember?”

“Yes, but I wasn't paying that much attention.”

“Let's just finish up and then she can tell us.”

Allie just nodded and turned her attention to the fridge while Bea’s attention was drawn back to the cupboard she had been facing. Returning to the living room a few minutes later they found Kaz patiently sitting in a chair, they sat on the sofa, Allies hand finding its way to Bea’s within seconds.

“What do you need Kaz?” Bea asked not sure she wanted to know the answer.

“I thought you would have already heard but obviously you don't have a clue, I got a call from Matt Fletcher early this morning.”

“So this is about Harry?”

“Yes, and I don't know how your going to take this so I'll just tell you, Matt called to say that there would be no sentencing hearing tomorrow because Harry was found dead in the showers last night.”

“Harry….Harry’s dead?…….How?”

“I don't know the details and I don't think I would want to, I'm guessing it wouldn't have been a very pleasant experience for him though.”

Bea just sat there, in those last few seconds of hearing the news, news that so many times since he had gone to prison she'd hoped to hear, now she had heard it she had all the emotions of wet concrete, no anger, no sadness, no joy, he was gone.

“No offence Kaz but I think you should leave.”

“Allie…..I…I”

“Just leave Kaz, I appreciate that you thought we should know but I really don't think you were the right person to tell Bea, do you? He might have been an abusive controlling bastard but she was still married to him and he is Debbie's dad, so please don't make me kick you out just go.”

“Fine, but if either of you need anything you know where to find me.”

“We do, but I guarantee we won't need you, now please just leave.”

Kaz got up and went towards the door, turning her head to look back at Allie who's attention had turned back to Bea.

“I'm sorry,” was all Kaz could say before she left.

Bea just sat there, everything Kaz had just said echoing around in her head, she felt confused but strangely to her happy and certain now that she could move on from the past, he was gone, yet parts of her brain felt like it was a tangled ball of wool. The parts that were untangled were available and useable, the rest was just a tangled mess, completely useless until it was untangled.

“Bea…..Bea….babe please say something……babe please.”

“Huh……sorry, I…I….he’s dead? How is that possible?”

“I don't know…..I could call Will, maybe he could get hold of Matt?”

“Yer…..Fuck….Debbie, he is still her dad, how do I tell her?”

“Bea we need to find out if that was the truth, I'd like to think Kaz wouldn't make something up like that but you never know, I'm going to call Will.”

“No need I have Matts number I'll just call him.”

“You sure?”

“I need to know Allie.”

“I know, I understand….can I get you anything?”

“Hmmm, a beer would be great, and then come and sit with me please.”

Disappearing into the kitchen Allie got them both a beer, returning to the living room she found Bea on the phone already, putting both beers on the coffee table she sat down taking Bea’s hand in hers again. Bea was on the phone for 10 minutes before she hung up and put her phone down and picked up her beer drinking half in one go.

“It's true, Matts going to come over and fill us in in the morning……shit, I have an appointment with a client in the morning, fuck!”

“Can't Franky deal with that?”

“I guess she can.”

Finishing her beer she called Franky filling her in on the little she knew, Franky assured her she would handle it and told her to stay home, they didn't have anything on and one day away from the office wasn't going to hurt. Hearing their conversation Allie decided to call Will while she was still thinking about it, he was a little shocked after first hearing the news but told her to stay home and that he would call round sometime the next day. Once they had both finished their conversations they sat in silence for a few minutes. Bea broke the silence,

  
“Come back to bed with me, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aiming for another chapter to be finished by the end of the week.


	82. Chapter 82

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am a little late posting this than I intended, last week was a little mad added to me having a day where I just couldn't write anything no matter how hard I tried.
> 
> Towards the end of this chapter I'd say it's probably NSFW.

The knock on the door came just a little after 9:30am and Allie went to answer it leaving Bea still sat in the kitchen staring into her coffee, for her it was like staring into a void, a dark void, never ending, consuming everything and she's left feeling nothing, she's just empty. She didn't care that Harry was dead, it meant nothing to her, if anything she should feel relief, he could no longer play his sick games with anyone. She had Debbie to think of and no matter what she would put her first, he was still her father, all she could do was wonder how the hell she was going to break the news, how would she take it?

Walking back into the kitchen Allie found her still staring into that now cold cup of coffee, walking up behind her she gently placed her hands on her shoulders,

“Bea….babe, Matt’s here. Are you sure you want to know what really happened?”

“I have to know Allie, part of me is still not sure if this is some kind of sick joke.”

“I doubt Matt would be here if it wasn't true.”

Pushing her chair back slowly she stood up, grabbing Allies hand and giving it a slight squeeze,

“You'll stay with me won't you?”

“You know I will, I wouldn't be anywhere else.”

Walking into the living room together they sat on the sofa, Beas eyes shot straight to Matt, looking him up and down he seemed a little on edge to her.

“I was hoping that you wouldn't have heard about this from someone else, I had planned to call you yesterday but I didn't want to ruin your day.”

“Hearing it from Kaz wasn't ideal.”

“No…no, and she had been told not to say anything, believe me when I have a spare few minutes I will be speaking to her again, thankfully she doesn't have the details.”

“Well just tell me, I need to know what happened, he may mean nothing to me but I need to get it all straight in my head because I have to figure out how and what I'm going to tell Debbie.”

“I understand Bea, but I will warn you it's not exactly pretty.”

Bea looked across at Allie who gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand trying to reassure her that she wasn't going to leave. Bea knew she was anxious, sitting there in a tearless, unemotional state with tension building up behind her eyes. She wanted so badly to shake it off. In her head she knew that this day was a day for false confidence if she was going to get through it. Her fingers wrapped more tightly around Allie’s hand, she saw what was behind that smile, it was meant to reassure her, give her more confidence, but she could see the worry that she was trying to mask.

“Ok, just please tell me Matt.”

“I'll give it to you straight Bea, you deserve that, once his drug supply was gone he had a lot of unhappy customers on his hands, prison by its nature is a violent place to be, but as a dealer with no more supply it was always guaranteed to get worse for him, he was offered a place in a segregation unit but naturally he declined that. The governor tells me he said he could handle anything, he wasn't weak and going into segregation would be a sign that he was.”

“That doesn't surprise me at all, he could never admit to himself that he was weak, he's always been nothing more than a bully all his life.”

“No one knows that better than you Bea….anyway to get back to it, he took a few beatings, got himself put in the medical unit a couple of times. Since the beginning of his trial I believe from the officers who had contact with him the physical altercations had stopped but the mental abuse he was suffering had increase dramatically, one of the officers told me that he had found him on his bed one day crying like a baby. He went to the showers on Saturday evening where he was from what we can gather ambushed, beaten and stabbed repeatedly, he wasn't missed until the head count a couple of hours later, by the time the officers got to him there was nothing they could do, he was already gone.”

“He only had himself to blame then, he always wanted to be in control of every situation, thought he was strong, he was only strong when his opponent was weaker.”

“If you need me for anything you have my number, just give me a call, we still have an investigation to do and that is likely to take a few weeks, again I'm really sorry I didn't call you and you had to hear this from someone else.”

“It's fine, really, I called you because I'm still not that trusting of Kaz.”

“I'm glad you did, you two try and enjoy the rest of your day, I know under the circumstances that's probably a dumb thing to say.”

Matt rose from the chair he had been sitting in, Allie was about to get up when he spoke,

“I can see myself out, please, you need time to process all this just stay with Bea.”

Allie nodded as he turned and left, hearing the door close softly behind him Allie turned to Bea, her expression still unreadable.

“Are you ok?”

“Yer, I'm fine I just don't have a clue how to tell Deb.”

“Hmmm, why don't we fly over to Sydney, maybe it would be better if you tell her in person, at least then you're there if she needs you.”

“Are you sure you could come with me?”

“I'll call Will, I'm sure under the circumstances he'd let me take another couple of days off, and if you don't feel up to it I'll call Franky for you let her know what's happening.”

“Can you do that later? Will you just sit with me for a while?”

“Of course I will, but can I just get a drink, I'll be right back.”

Bea nodded and let go of her hand, going to the kitchen Allie got two bottles of water and went straight back to sit with Bea, sitting at the end of the sofa she put the bottles on the coffee table. Bea looked over at her, puzzled for a few seconds before she realised why she had sat so far away, scooting over a little she pulled her legs up onto the sofa and rested her head in Allies lap. Allies hand found hers straight away, the other moved to her head stroking her hair.

“Better?”

“Hmmm, much better.”

Bea lay there for a few minutes trying to formulate what she wanted to say in her head but the words were just running free, the more she tried to un jumble them the harder it became to make sense of what she was trying to say. Laying there, feeling the warmth radiating from Allie somehow made her feel like she was in the wrong place, as if this kind of comfort was really only meant for other people. Turning her head to look up at her she saw nothing but love and concern in her eyes, eyes she loved so much, looking back at her were two limpid pools of blue that sparkle in the sun or moonlight, eyes that shine and sparkle more than anything she had ever seen. Her gaze could take her breath away, a wink made her feel as if her heart might stop. She could lose herself in the depth of her eyes, she felt at home. After spending so many years dancing around the wants and needs of others, always having no choice but to give everything she had and still try to keep some semblance of herself intact, even now what she had still felt foreign to her. Allie didn't ask for anything, didn't demand anything, she gave so much more than she took. Still the words were circulating in her mind, as if some invisible force were stopping them from forming a complete sentence and allowing them to flow out into the world. Allowing her gaze to drop back to the coffee table the words finally made sense, the things she knew but had never told anyone, those well hidden secrets of Harry's, screaming in her head for release, for another person to know what she kept locked away. It didn't excuse how Harry had always behaved, but it did make sense to why he was the way he was to the end.

“Harry didn't have the best childhood, his father was mentally abusive, he told me once that nothing he ever did was good enough for this father, his mother was a wreck and always went along with everything he said. I can't say I ever really witnessed anything, I did my best to stay away from them and Harry hardly ever saw them.”

“That doesn't excuse the way he treated you.” Allie said as she ran her fingers from her hair and down her arm.

“I'm not making excuses for him, i just need to get this out before My head explodes. Damaged people don't often see that they are seeking out situations that just damage them more, it's as if they are addicted to being the victim, it traps them in their need for attention, but all it ever successfully guarantees is that all the attention they receive is negative. All the confidence and self esteem was once kicked out of them and it is so hard to change, to build on who they are to regain who they are. I honestly never thought I could recover from what he did to me, then you walking into my life, and I know I still have a long way to go. Harry was broken long before we met, but he had found a way to take back part of himself, he was addicted to the buzz of the power he had over people, he was an expert in hurting others and then turning it around so he could play the victim. Does this make sense to you?”

Allie just nodded not sure she could even find any words to answer her.

“For Harry our relationship was like a war and he always had to have the upper hand, to stay in control and he could never love anyone the way he should because love was pushed into the background, his need to feel powerful was always what he craved. We both needed help. Deb loved him, showered both of us with the love that only a child can give and I suffered alone, he still had to be in control, neither of us could find our positive selves. He ended up in prison because he couldn't in the end control his need to be in control. It took me a long time to be able to see that it wasn't my fault, that he was the one who was wrong. And until you I never thought I deserved love that was freely given to me, I couldn't see that I really was worth fixing. It always seemed that even if I could love someone I would still be unlovable, that if I cared about someone I would be a target for their hatred….i did everything I possibly could for him and he just attacked me over and over again.”

“You know I would never intentionally hurt you right?”

“I know.”

———————————————

Arriving at the hotel in Sydney late that evening they checked in and went straight to their room, dropping their bags on the floor Bea walked straight over to the bed and sat down, kicking off her shoes.

“You want to order something to eat, we still have time?”

“I am hungry, but I'm tired, I guess we could get a sandwich.”

“Ok, so what do you want?”

“You decide babe, I need a shower.”

Bea called room service ordering them both a sandwich, she contemplated laying down for a while but decided against it knowing that she would probably fall asleep, getting up from the bed to grab the tv remote she flicked through the channels, eventually deciding on a movie that she had already seen but she wasn't planning on watching it she just needed some background noise, something to take her mind off wanting to fall asleep. Tiredness came in both physical and mental tiredness that evening, physical because she had spent so much of the day pacing the floor, mental because she just didn't know how to break the news to Debbie, she had gone over it so many times, tried to anticipate her reaction, all she had managed was to tire herself out. Sitting back down on the bed just a few seconds before there was a knock on the door she groaned as she stood back up making her way to the door, taking the food from the guy at the door she closed the door with a thud not caring that he had still been stood there. Leaning back against the door she knew she could have so easily just slide down it and sit on the floor and fallen asleep, pushing herself away from the door just as Allie walked out of the bathroom.

“Good timing?”

“Yer, your timing is so much better than Franky’s you have to admit that,” Bea giggled a little.

“I should hope so to, reminds me we really need to get our own back one day.”

They both sat back on the bed and ate their sandwiches half watching the tv. Leaving the plates on the bedside tables when they had finished, neither of them wanted to move. Looking at Allie Bea could see she was already almost asleep, and sitting up was definitely not a good position to fall asleep in.

“Allie you need to get in bed.” Bea smiled as Allie jerked her eyes fully open staring back at her.

“I'm fine, you need to get changed.” She muttered as she rubbed her eyes.

“Stop lying and get in bed,” Bea replied poking her on the arm slightly.

“Hey, stop that, I'm fine.” Her eyes closing slightly again.

“Yer, fine my arse.”

“I don't need to sleep, I'm fine.”

“Allie, even vampires need to sleep.” Bea protested as she pulled her close, holding her tightly against her chest, rubbing a hand against her back soothingly, Allie tried to move, tried to protest but it was no use, Bea wasn't letting her go and her eyes wouldn't stay open any longer no matter how hard she tried. A few minutes later Bea looked down at her, fast asleep in her arms, reaching over she turned off the lamp and slid down the bed slowly and carefully not wanting to wake her up. Bea could feel the last of her energy draining out of her as she closed her eyes the tv still on, the flickering screen and the sound fading into nothing as she drifted off to sleep.

Waking up the next morning Bea wasn't even sure where she was at first until she realized that Allie was still in her arms. Slowly moving Allie so she lay fully on the bed she sat up, swinging her legs off the bed she sat there for a few moments rubbing her eyes, picking her phone up to check the time, just after 7am. Getting up from the bed she grabbed her bag, tiredness the previous day had left her so drained that she had forgotten to charge her phone, plugging it in she sent a quick text to Debbie asking her to let her know when she was up and getting an almost instant reply letting her know that she was up already. Deciding to bite the bullet she called her.

“Hey mum, why the early call?”

“Can't I call you now?”

“Yer, course, but I was just going to eat, I have a class this morning.”

“Of course, so do you have classes all day?”

“No, just this morning.”

“I'll call you back later if I get the chance, any plans for the afternoon so I know when not to call?”

“No, I've got a test to study for so I'll be here for the rest of the day.”

“Ok, I'll call you later, I love you Deb.”

“Love ya too, to the moon and back mum.”

Hanging up Bea knew she had no intention of actually calling her again that day, what she had to tell her wasn't something she could do over the phone. Turning her head to look at Allie, as she slept peacefully, she wanted nothing more at that moment than to curl up beside her and just hold her but her head wasn't going to allow that, she had to tell Debbie, she had to think of the words, how could she tell her? Her thoughts were like a screenplay, playing out in an invisible corner of her head, it gave her a place to experiment with different ways of wording the thing she dreaded saying. Every possible scenario right there in her head like a racetrack full of speeding cars. Standing up she walked to the window, looking out over Sydney in the morning light, morning is as dependable as the tides, unstoppable. She longed for a few more hours of night, not that she wanted to sleep, she needed more time, more time to prepare, to get her thoughts organised, to get it all clear after reordering and prioritising everything in her head before storing it all away as a rehearsed speech ready to deliver the news to her daughter. Walking back over to bed she had intended to lay down for a while but not wanting to disturb Allie she had a sudden change of heart, grabbing her bag she grabbed everything she needed before stripping off and going to the bathroom for a shower.

Allie awoke with a jolt as if someone had just hooked her up the mains. She wasn't sleepy, there was no slow warming up this morning, within seconds of her eyes opening she realised that Bea was no longer there. She almost jumped to her feet, her eyes wide open, any dream she may have had not just forgotten but completely erased from her memory. She stood for a second trying to make sense of all the feedback she was receiving from her senses. Apart from her own breathing and the tv quietly playing away to itself there was nothing to be heard but the shower running in the bathroom. She swallowed down the anxiety that had formed when she first realized that Bea wasn't there and smiled to herself, heading to the bathroom she stripped herself as she walked, quietly opening the door and slipping into the shower behind Bea, she placed her hands on Beas shoulders making her jump.

Bea spun round grabbing Allie and pushing her against the tiled wall, it took her a few seconds for her head to catch up, seeing Allie stood in front of her looking her in the eye and smiling. Closing the distance that still stood between them Bea began her assault on Allie’s neck,

“You scared me,” she whispered as she kissed and nibbled her neck.

“I didn't mean to,” Allie whispered before a gasp left her lips.

Bea licked up her neck to her ear before going back to kissing her and pushing one of her legs between Allie’s. Peppering her neck and collarbones with kisses Allie couldn't stop her hips from grinding into Bea’s leg. Bea slid her hands from her waist to her butt, gripping her tighter and lifting her slightly higher up the wall, their bodies pressed together so tightly that there was no way Allie could free herself. Lowering her head Bea kissed across her chest and down to her breasts, sucking each nipple into her mouth in turn, listening to every moan that left Allies perfect lips. Turning her attention back to her chest she papered it with kisses again before sinking lower, kissing between her breasts and all over her stomach. Sinking lower still she kissed and licked her inner thigh until, she felt Allies hands in her hair trying to gently pull her to where she needed her most. Bea wasn't ready to give her what she wanted right then, continuing to kiss her way back up her body but never going any higher than her stomach, her hands wondering, dragging her nails over every inch of skin she could reach, looking up she let her eyes roam over her chest, to her toned arms, her eyes wondered higher to look at the face that she loved and that soothed her. Sinking lower again she nipped each thigh causing Allie to moan and shudder both times,

“Babe, please,” Allie managed to gasp.

Bea really didn't want to tease her too much but she still waited a little longer before she gave into Allies moans, licking her clit lightly before adding more pressure. It wasn't long before Allie could no longer hold back every moan. Dragging one hand down her body, making Allie shiver Bea entered her and almost immediately her knees buckled as her orgasm tore through her. Finally crumbling into Beas arms as she regained her breathing and her strength to stand by herself.

“Fuck Bea, where did that come from?”

“I….I….fuck….I’m sorry…I…”

“Hey, look at me, don't be sorry, but your not usually like that.”

“I'm just gonna go get ready,” Bea said as she turned her back and walked out of the shower leaving a speechless Allie behind.

Allie finished up in the bathroom quicker than she had intended, finding Bea dressed and sitting on the bed with her head in her hands. Walking straight over to stand in front of her she knelt down placing both her hands on her shoulders,

“Talk to me….i can't stand to see you like this…Bea please…”

Bea didn't move, she couldn't speak, it felt as if the world were slowly disappearing right in front of her eyes, or maybe it was her that was fading away, she couldn't tell and wasn't sure that it mattered anyway. She felt as though her lungs were completely empty and burning, screaming for air, her heart beating so hard that it felt as if it would break free from her body. Her head was like a black hole, she had no thoughts other than those of Debbie, she heard Allie speak but couldn't even begin to formulate a response, and in that moment her anxiety turned to panic. Softly grabbing Allies arms she pushed her hands away and stood up, pacing up and down the room as if she were determined to wear a trail in the carpet, keeping her head down she stared at her feet. Allie watched on for a while until it was clear that she wasn't going to stop pacing, getting up from the floor she walked up behind her wrapping her arms round her waist and resting her chin on her shoulder stopping her in her tracks immediately.

“Babe you need to calm down, this isn't helping, I know your worried but you need to relax, and we need to get something to eat.”

“I know, but…..but….Deb, what if she blames me?”

“Bea, she's just like you, he was her dad and I get it, but she knows what he did to you, she knows what he's done since he's been in prison, why would she blame you?”

“It's because of what he did to me he was there in the first place, and now I have to tell her he's dead…everything hinges on what I say to her, and once I've said it it can never be undone.”

“Please just sit down, let me get dressed and we can order breakfast, sit out on the balcony and talk about it, your doing yourself no good beating yourself up about something you had no control over.”

Thirty minutes later they were sitting out on the balcony, Bea didn't touch her breakfast she just sat sipping a cup of coffee and gazing out at the skyline, answering Allie every time she asked her anything but staying silent the rest of the time. Allie walked round the table, took the cup from Beas hand and sat in her lap. The conversation was strained at first, Bea could not get past the thoughts that somehow she was to blame and that Debbie was going to hate her, but Allie was persistent, her words could draw Bea close and soothe her fears. Allies words could take what was broken inside of Bea and make her see that even though it was a hard road to heal it was possible. Allie backed up her words with actions and love, something money could never buy.

“You know I'll be here everyday to talk to you about anything, silly things or serious things, I'll make you breakfast and I'll watch stupid movies with you. I'll wrap my arms around you when the bad memories try to pull you under, not just this time but always. You don't have to believe me, I'm not even asking you to, I'll prove it to you everyday that you still want me around because I love you.”

“I can't imagine not wanting you around, and you already do all those things so I can't not believe you. And I hope that you know how much I love you.”

A couple of hours had passed and Bea had calmed down considerably, she knew deep down that beneath everything they ever talked about there was always love between them, it hardly ever mattered what they talked about, it only mattered that they were talking.

———————————————

The taxi ride from the hotel to Debbie's halls of residence was spent almost in silence, everything they needed to say they had already said, Bea held onto Allie’s hand as if her life depended upon it as she looked out of the window. Pulling up Allie paid the driver, after getting out Bea swallowed hard looking up at the building in front of her.

“We’ll do this together,” Allie said as she stood by her side once again taking her hand in hers.

Looking at Allie then back to where she dreaded going, the fear and dread of what they were about to do was pushing against her like an invisible gale force wind, she wanted to turn back and get back into the taxi and return to the hotel. Fear had her stomach tied up in knots, her face set like stone and her teeth locked tight together. She had to do this, she couldn't turn back time, couldn't drag the sun from the sky and replace it with the moon, she wished right at that very second that she could inject amnesia into her mind so she couldn't remember why she was there in the first place. Allie gave her hand a squeeze and started walking, Bea just let her take the lead, walking up the stairs towards Debbie's room her legs felt like lead. When they reached Debbie's floor Allie stopped and turned to her, taking her other hand in hers,

“You can do this, and I'll be right there beside you no matter what happens.”

“You better be, I can't face this without you.”

“Then let's get it over with, the sooner you tell her the sooner you'll know how it's going to turn out.”

Releasing one of her hands she turned back to face the hall, Bea took one last deep breath and they walked down the hallway together coming to a stop outside Debbie's door. If Bea had rehearsed the forthcoming conversation once she had rehearsed it a thousand times, this had to be done, had to end. Now they were stood right outside Debbie's door her mouth was dry and her heart was beating so hard. She raised her hand to knock on the door then dropped it back by her side. Glancing at Allie for one more time she quickly raised her hand again and knocked on the door before her thoughts got the better of her again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm now beyond promising when I'll get another chapter finished but it should be at some point this week.


	83. Chapter 83

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is Bea right to be concerned about Debbie's reaction to the news of Harry's death?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't ask how I managed it but here's another chapter anyway.

Bea suddenly felt sick the second she dropped her hand back down by her side, if it hadn't been that Allie still had hold of her hand she would have bolted. There was no way out of this now, the knock on the door was her commitment to tell Debbie the truth no matter how she reacted. Hearing footsteps behind the door, her whole body tensed as it swung open.

“Mum, Allie…..why are you here? What's happened?”

“I…umm…I…” Beas mouth was dry and she couldn't formulate even the simplest of sentences.

Allie felt her struggle, releasing her hand she instinctively wrapped her arm round her waist and pulled her a little closer.

“We need to talk to you Debbie….can we come in?”

“Oh yer, sorry Allie, come in….wait were you both here in Sydney this morning when mum called?”

“Yer, we arrived late yesterday.”

Allie pulled Bea in front of her and guided her into the room following closely behind and closing the door gently behind her.

Debbie sat with her back to her desk gesturing for Bea and Allie to sit on her bed. The air felt so tense to Bea and she still wasn't sure she could say what she needed to say. Looking at them both Debbie knew there was something wrong and judging from the look on her mum’s face it wasn't anything good.

“So which one of you is going to tell me what's going on, I'm positive you didn't come all the way here just because you missed me?”

Bea’s eyes fell to the floor, her hand gripping Allie’s so tightly that she was certain she was going to lose all the feeling in it but wasn't going to say anything.

“Deb….it…well, Harry…y…your,”

“Stop mum, if you're going to call him my dad then just don't bother, he lost the right to be called that a long time ago, I though I made that perfectly clear to you, he's nothing to me, sure he's part of the reason I'm here but he's not the reason I am where I am, that was all you and don't forget that.”

“I'm s..sorry Deb, I know you said that, but….this is different.”

“So tell me already, or do I have to ask Allie?”

Allie's eyes shot from Bea’s direction to Debbie, she hadn't even thought that if Bea couldn't get the words out she might have to. A heavy silence settled over the three of them, the silence hanging thicker than the uneasy tension in the atmosphere. Allie’s unsettled eyes glanced at Bea then back at Debbie. Bea lifted her head and looked at Debbie, she knew that if her thoughts were visible no one but her would be able to make sense of them, all the crazy chaotic thoughts twisting in her head all coming together to say what in her head sounded like it made sense, her thoughts once more spinning out of control seemingly without any design or logic, but they always make their way back to the reason they are here, but after hearing her daughters words she had to do it, she couldn't imagine it was possible that she wouldn't blame her but here she was saying that she didn't see him as her father, she had said it before, and that day had confused the hell out of Allie given that at the time she had only walked in on the end of that particular conversation. Bea’s eyes lit up a little remembering that conversation, she could do this, she had to.

“Deb, I've driven myself and Allie crazy trying to work out how I should tell you this, I've rehearsed how to say it over and over in my head but that hasn't stopped me from thinking that you're going to take it badly or just hate me and throw me out….”

“Mum, nothing you could tell me would make me hate you, you have always been there when I've needed you, so just say it already or I will be forced to get Allie to tell me.”

“I know you say you don't care about Harry but this might be hard to hear, we found out for sure yesterday that….that he was killed in prison.”

Debbie looked straight at Bea and then Allie, her facial expression completely unreadable.

“Oh….what happened, I mean he must have pissed someone off?”

“You know he was selling drugs in the prison?”

“Yes, yes, mum I know all that already, wait wasn't he in court last week?”

“Yes, his sentencing should have been yesterday, he was found in the showers on Saturday evening, he'd been beaten and stabbed.”

Debbie got up from her chair moving over to the bed she sat beside Bea putting her arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a hug.

“Mum he brought all that on himself, he shouldn't have done the things he has done, none of them. I admit I had times when I was a kid that I hated you, hated both of you, but that was before I really understood what was happening. I lost my dad a long time before he went to prison, I've already felt the emptiness in my heart, I've lived with the nothingness that took hold of me and made me feel like I was suffocating so much that I thought I might die. I've carried that heavy feeling like the whole world was resting on my shoulders and there was nothing I could do to get out from under it. But you were always there, wiping my tears away when I cried, holding me when I just felt like I would fall apart. I may once have had a hole in my heart that was left by him and his decisions but you were always there, you helped me heal that, you loved me, you encouraged me, I'm not going to pretend to be sorry about losing something that I never really had.”

Bea didn't know what to say, Debbie's words seemed to fall through the air surrounding her like confetti, she was completely unguarded, it was not what she had envisioned, in every scenario she had played out in her head it had all gone to shit. She was overcome by her words, words that offered her more than she could ever have expected, she didn't blame her, didn't hate her, she held her close while she said what she need to say and it was too much as the silent tears began to fall from her eyes.

  
———————————————

“What time did Debbie say we were meeting her for dinner?”

“She said seven, were you listening Allie?”

“I was trying to but I was more concerned about you.”

“Yer I'm sorry about that, I don't know what happened.”

“Babe really, you were convinced that Debbie was going to react badly when you told her, I'm not surprised that you went to pieces when she didn't, you'd already set yourself up for the worst possible outcome and no amount of persuasion could alter your thinking, I know I tried remember?”

“I'm not likely to forget, I should have listened, I was stubborn and I thought I knew how it was going to play out, no matter what he was still her father. Do you think we damaged her as much as we damaged each other?”

Allie got up from the chair she had been sitting in and walked over to the bed, laying next to Bea who was sitting with her back against the headboard,

“Lay down before I answer that that would ya?”

Bea scooted down the bed turning on her side to face Allie resting on her elbow and leaning her head on her hand.

“To look at both of you as you are today no one unless they knew your past would have a clue that anything dreadful could have happened. Damage doesn't ever stop at one person, if it's given the chance it rolls down the generations, like an emotional tornado that ruins lives. Harry's father sounds as though he was emotionally closed off from both Harry and his wife, that in turn led Harry to act the same way. The trauma his father must have endured at some point in his life was then transmitted to Harry in his constant fault finding, it left him with the inability to form loving bonds with is own parents, with you and with Debbie.”

“As much as that all makes sense it's not what I asked you.”

“I know, what I'm trying to say though, and I know you don't see it this way at all, is that you didn't lose sight of what was most important, he may have abused you in the worst ways possible but you still had the strength to show Debbie the love and nurturing that she needed. I'm not going to say that it didn't damage her but you gave her everything, you showed her that even though she was living in that awful place with you there was still good, still plenty of love and care in the word, what you have always done for her outweighs that damage. Couldn't you tell that when she spoke to you earlier?”

“I guess I've never stopped long enough to think about it any other way. He was the monster in my nightmares and my waking hours, some days I couldn't tell a nightmare from my reality of life. Sometimes I think about it and in retrospect I should have always caught the clues that were there showing me that it would be a bad day. But I knew then just as I know now that he could beat me and crush every ounce of self worth I had, but he could never stop me from trying to love and protect Deb. I could always see the delight in his eyes when he hit me, he didn't choose to love either of us, but he chose to beat and destroy, the power he had at home was his drug of choice.”

Bea lowered her head back down to the pillow pulling Allie closer to her as they lay there looking at each other.

“Does it bother you?”

“Does what bother me?”

“When I tell you about him, about the things he did?”

“I can't lie to you, it makes me sick to my stomach thinking about what he did to you, what you had to go through, but I'd rather you say it out loud than keep it bottled up, it's better when you let it out and try and let it go.”

“I guess, sooooo…..are we just getting changed or do you want to shower?”

“Hmmm, let me think.”

“Don't think too long will ya, we only have an hour and a half before we have to go.”

“Shit really? Well in that case I say we shower, together.”

“How can I ever turn down an offer like that?” Bea giggled, her mood now greatly altered.

“You better not, I hate showering alone as much as I hate sleeping alone.”

———————————————

Arriving at the diner that Debbie had insisted they meet her at 20 minutes later than they had arranged they looked around, it was full, Bea scanned the the busy tables eventually spotting Debbie sat at the back near the window.

“I'm not even going to ask why you're late.” Debbie grinned at them.

“That's probably wise,” Allie giggled.

“I know this probably wasn't what you had in mind, it does get packed, but the food is great.”

“We don't mind, it's just good to spend some time with you, and after this morning….”

“Mum, seriously don't, I think we've already covered that…….Allie how's things at the bar anyway?”

Debbie and Allie sat chatting as Bea looked around, it really was busy, every table seemed to be occupied, next to them sat an old couple sat side by side eating, the next table over held a small group of women who appeared to be in their mid 20s all helplessly giggling at something one of them was showing the others on their phone, as a stern looking woman eating alone nearby watched them with a frown plastered on her face. Surprisingly there was the group of men all dressed in grey suits seemingly congratulating one another on whatever they had recently achieved in their business dealings. The tourists stuck out like a sore thumb as they tried to decipher the menu. Families with their children, arguing who was having what, but mostly students, needless to the say the noise level was high. That didn't matter, Bea sat back in her seat watching Allie and Debbie chatting away as if they had always been in each other's lives and she couldn't help but smile, that was all she had ever wanted, a family that laughed together, who spoke to each other without raised voices, a family that loved each other. It was something that she had always wanted, longed for, no matter how bad and how dark things became with Harry around she still held out hope that one day it would change, never had she thought that it would take him going to prison for her to turn her whole life around and find the love of her life. Allie looked over at her, sliding her hand across the table to find hers,

“You alright there babe?”

“Hmmm, yer, never been better.”

The waitress finally found her way to their table, taking their order with all the efficiency of a toddler tying their shoe laces while wearing mittens. She seemed to forget what they had told her they wanted before they had even finished speaking, having to repeat themselves so many times left Bea more than a little irritated. She seemed to Bea to have the air of someone who was in total shock, and acted like a person who's brain was lost somewhere else. When she finally got their orders and had walked away Debbie couldn't help but laugh.

“I think she must be new.”

“You reckon?” Allie giggled.

“I've never seen her before, bet she doesn't last long if they keep her working at this time of day.”

“Sounds like you eat in here a lot Deb.”

“Yer, a couple of times a week, or if I've got a lot of work to do, honestly mum I'll be glad when this year is over, I'm planning on moving into a shared house with a couple of the girls next year.”

“You don't like living in halls?”

“It's ok, it gets a little chaotic at the weekends, we all want to let our hair down but not at the expense of everyone else, it gets a little bit too much when I have a lot on.”

“You can always try and get home for the odd weekend if you want, we wouldn't disturb you.”

“I've thought about it a couple of times, but honestly it costs too much just to come home for the weekend.”

“Well you only have to let me know if you want to come home, money isn't an issue if you need some quiet time.”

“Yer ok mum, I get it and I will let you know. I hate asking but you will keep me up to date with what's going on won't you? Well one of you better had.”

They both nodded just as the waitress finally returned with their food, looking even more harassed than she had before. Bea was actually hungry, she felt as if she hadn't eaten for days, since hearing the news of Harry's death and worrying about breaking it to Debbie she'd had no appetite. All three of them finished their eating at roughly the same time.

“Wow Bea, hungry much?”

“Starving!”

Allie and Debbie couldn't help but laugh. After paying the bill they left, walking Debbie back before getting a taxi and going back to the hotel.

“Can we just go to bed? I'm exhausted.”

“Probably a good idea, our flight home is at 8am.”

After getting ready for bed and brushing her teeth Bea lay on the bed while she waited for Allie to finish.

“I thought you wanted to go to bed babe?”

“I was waiting for you, but I can't be bothered to move now.”

“Bea Smith get up and get in bed.”

“Ok, ok I'm doing it.”

Getting in bed Allie turned the lamp off and instantly cuddled into Bea’s side.

“Allie, can we talk?”

“Course we can, what's bothering you, please tell me it's not Debbie again.”

“No….I can't get things out of my head, I can't get Harry out of my head, how things were.”

“I'm listening and I always will.”

“I just don't know how to say it……”

Bea was silent for a while and Allie just lay next to her, holding her close giving her the time to find the words she was looking for.

“To everyone on the outside it looked like we had the perfect marriage, I could hide most of the bruises easily, generally my ribs and legs, I always knew they were there even though no one else did and I would feel the pain with every breath. The house felt like a cage, and the longer it went on it felt like my body was a cage for my soul. Most of the time I would just go to bed after he had passed out on the sofa, I knew I could never tell anyone, there would be no doctors, no evidence of what he had done, in the beginning he would apologise and things would be alright for a few days until he lost his temper again. A few times he even took me and Debbie out to dinner, always a fancy restaurant so he could brag to his friends about how good he was to the both of us even though Debbie was too young at the time to actually eat, he would order, I never got a say in what we had, I would have to struggle through it barley able to eat through the pain because it would cut each breath short. It just got worse, it didn't matter how much I tried to keep him happy, even when I thought everything was just how he wanted it he would still find fault. He became careless and I couldn't always hide what he had done, I made a million excuses for the bruises but Maxine always saw through my lies, she tried to talk to me, but I couldn't, I wouldn't listen to her. Her and Franky at the time were all I had apart from Debbie, they would convince me that I had to leave and I would have my mind set on it until I walked back in the house then all logic left my head and I just carried on as he expected…….Does that make me weak? A coward?”

“No….it makes you human, it made you a fantastic mum, you did what you thought was right and you kept Debbie safe,” Allie whispered to her, moving slightly so she could rest her head on Bea’s chest.

“I think nothing I ever went through was as bad as what you endured.”

“I don't know…..after my gran died and I was alone with nothing I found myself in a shop doorway one night, all I had left in the world was a jacket, I zipped it up, pulled up my hood and tucked my knees into my chest, I was so cold, I thought I would never be warm again. That jacket could never compete with my gran’s hugs, she was like my blanket, she shielded me from the cold. When I felt like I was falling she always made me stand strong. I cried but I no longer had anyone there to tell me that it'll be ok. It was like everything I had ever know was on the other side of the world and I had made the decision to leave it all there. I was grown up, but I still felt like a little girl, a little girl who still needed protecting but I ended up trying to protect other people, I still needed protection and guidance, isn't that the natural way of things? To need guidance until we learn to walk on our own? I guess for a while I did walk on my own, tried to make my own path, but it was lonely. Even after Kaz found me I still felt alone. But now I walk with you and I want and need to protect you as much as you protect me. Being together is better, it makes us both stronger. You give me so much more than I have ever had, than I ever thought was possible. I don't ever want to be apart from you, my gran always said that home is where the heart is, and I doubt that mine can ever be separated from yours.”

They lay in silence, it was peaceful, a peace as subtle as the sea flowing calmly past without a wave in sight, a peace as subtle as the sun glowing, shining down on them like a beacon of hope and serenity. Allie knew Bea had fallen asleep as her breath evened out, she moved her head to the pillow slowly so she could look at her, to her Bea was the whole world, without her she couldn't imagine herself enjoying looking at a single flower or watching the sun rising. There was nothing she wouldn't do to keep her safe, but she knew that it was impossible to always try to protect her, she did know that no matter what she would be there if she fell and she would stand beside her when she was reaching for the stars. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's to hoping I get another chapter finished before this week is over, I'll give it a go anyway.


	84. Chapter 84

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bea gets an unexpected visitor and a surprise for Allie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay in posting this chapter, I didn't write a thing over the weekend and it seems I got a little carried away with writing after that. I considered splitting this chapter but decided that that wouldn't work.....so here you go almost 6000 words, most I think I've ever written.

_A week later….._

 

 

Bea was sitting in her office replying to a few emails that she had meant to take care of the previous day but time had gotten away from her, unusually for her recently she had even got home late. Her door wasn't closed all the way and she'd heard someone talking to Liz but thought no more about it until Liz popped her head round the door.

“Bea love, there's a lady here who insists that she needs to speak with you.”

“Did you get her name?”

“Ummm, well, yes…..it's…Margaret…Margaret Smith.”

“What! You have to be fucking kidding me, You know that's Harry's mother?”

“Yes love, she mentioned that, but she insisted she has to speak to you.”

“I have nothing to say to her, tell her to piss off Liz.”

Liz retreated, closing the door fully behind her. “Fuck!” Bea thought to herself, getting up from her chair she toyed with the idea of just going out there and facing her, telling her what a bastard her son really was. She started pacing her office when a thought occurred to her, where was his dad? George never let her out of his sight, flopping back down in her chair she couldn't work it out.

Franky knocked on her office door, after waiting a few seconds she knocked again, getting no response she opened it and walked in, closing the door behind her,

“Umm, Red, everything alright?”

Bea was lost in her thoughts, Margaret never went anywhere alone, “what the fuck is going on? Is this a fucked up game?” Was all she could think.

“Red…..Red……Bea Smith will you fucking answer me?”

“Huh, what….Franky, what do you want?”

“Oh ya know, I'm wondering why that dick heads mum is out there talking to Liz.”

“Oh…her, yer well she told Liz she needs to speak to me, but I don't like it, you know she never goes anywhere alone.”

“Yer I know that, want me to go find out?”

“You know she wouldn't even look at you never mind speak to you.”

“It's worth a shot, she is here on her own remember.”

“I guess you could try, I'm not ready to go out there.”

“Consider it done, I'll be back.”

Franky left Bea just as she had found her slumped in her chair, only now she could feel her anger boiling deep in her system, it churned within her, hungry to just go out there and kick Harry's mother out of the office, or just shout and scream at her. She knew the pressure of that raging sea of anger would force her to say everything she had always wanted to say, but it would also make her say things that she didn't mean and if Franky or Liz got in her way it would be one or both of them that suffered. She needed to get away from everyone before she erupted, she knew the feeling would pass but until it did she was well aware that she could hurt someone, she needed to escape. Grabbing her phone and car keys she suddenly bolted out of her office, almost running into Franky and out of the door, getting to her car she got in turning the music up. Franky went to the door just in time to see Bea speed away, music pouring out of the car. Bea had no idea where she was going, she just wanted to shut everything out and let go of the darkness that she felt may swallow her. Before she realized where she was headed she pulled into the drive at home, her anger had dissipated and she felt calmer than she had before. Just as she was about to get out of the car her phone started ringing, looking across at the passenger seat where she had thrown it she saw Franky’s name, “shit,” she thought to herself before picking it up and answering.

“Franky before you say anything I just had to get away.”

“Yer Red I get it…..are ya, um, coming back?”

“I guess so, but not right now, is she still there?”

“Ah…yer, well…about that…”

“Fuck sake Franky what the fuck is going on? Don't tell me Liz has offered her tea and biscuits and a sympathetic ear.”

Franky walked back into her own office, closing the door behind her not wanting to carry the rest of the conversation on in front of anyone.

“Listen red I think you should hear her out, and before you go biting my head off I know why she's here to see you.”

“Fuck off Franky, she's never spoken to you before, remember the last time you were in the same room?”

“I do, but I really think you need to listen to what she came for.”

“You can't just tell me yourself?”

Bea couldn't believe what she was hearing, Franky had always disliked Harry's parents almost as much as she hated Harry, and now she was telling her this, that Margaret Smith, a woman who lived in the shadow of her husband and son, who had always looked at Franky with disgust and who had barely ever spoken to Bea actually had something worth hearing.

“Red come on, you need to hear what she has to say.”

“Fine, but I want her out of the office, take her over to the diner and I'll meet you there in an hour.”

“Whatever you say boss….an hour, and I'm keeping my eye on the time ya hear me?”

“Yes Franky, loud and clear, but you tell her if she's going to give me crap I'm gone.”

“Don't reckon I need to tell her that to be honest with ya, but if it makes ya happy I'll mention it…see you in an hour?”

“Bye Franky.”

Bea hung up, “what the fuck did I just agree to?” She wondered to herself. Throwing her phone back on the passenger seat she decided to drive over to the bar to talk to Allie, maybe she could help her make sense of this.

———————————————

Arriving at the diner ten minutes later than she said she would she had to admit to herself that her conversation with Allie had eased her nerves a little, she was just going to go in there, listen to what she had to say then leave, that was her plan, if things got heated she would just leave, she wasn't going to get into a shouting match in such a public place. As soon as she walked in she spotted Franky, seemingly actually in conversation with her ex mother in law, making her way over to where they were sitting she took a deep breath keeping her eyes on Margaret the whole time, coming to a stop next to the table they were sitting at Franky just looked up at her. Before Bea could say a word Margaret spoke.

"Bea, it really is good to see you again.”

“Oh yer, I'm sure….what exactly is it that you want?”

“Please sit down Bea, I don't want to cause you any trouble, I just wanted to talk to you.”

Taking a seat she just looked at Margaret waiting for her to speak, this was strange, this woman sat across the table from her had barley ever said two words to her while she was married to Harry and now she wanted to talk to her. The short silence became to much for her and Bea spoke first.

“George let you out on your own I see.”

Margaret chuckled a little.

“Oh my dear, you don't know do you, George died close to six months ago. Ever since then I've thought about coming to speak to you, naturally I didn't think you would listen to anything I had to say, after I was notified of Harry's death I knew I had to try.”

“I'm sorry, I had no idea, I wasn't on speaking terms with Harry.”

“You have no need to be sorry Bea, I on the other hand should be, I should never have kept my distance from you or Debbie, I knew how Harry was, he was just like his father. George was a skilled abuser, it was his only real talent and he passed that on to his only son, I'm not proud of the way Harry turned out, if I had been stronger like you I would have taken him and left. Harry was a lot worse than his father though, George, well….”

Silence descended between them again for a short while before Margaret continued to speak.

“George had a way of twisting everything, if he saw me cry he would tell me it was my fault that I had such a miserable life, when I was hurting he could twist it to make me believe that he was my victim, he could and did invent the things he said I did that inflicted hurt on him. I couldn't leave, I wasn't strong enough to do it, I tried to always be as nice to him as I possibly could, but it was never enough, he was his own poison, it leaked from him into everyone who was unfortunate enough to share his life, sometimes I would catch a glimpse of the scared little boy within him, but mostly he thought it was just fine to hurt other people to satisfy himself, it was never normal and it certainly wasn't acceptable.”

“Harry did mention that his father wasn't the greatest.”

“That was an understatement, nothing ever came for free with George, everything he ever gave either of us was a debt, ‘remember who gave you that, remember what I do for you' he would say, everything was a competition and he hated to loose, trying to beat him at his own game brought on his anger. He took everything we gave him as if it was his right to have it, in return we got a roof over our heads, he dominated me, hurt me and all I wanted was a little love and peace. After an outburst he would take what little self esteem I had and trample on it again. I had to have his permission to have friends, so to did Harry, I think happiness was offensive to him. And I'm so sorry that Harry was even worse than him…I never wanted you to go through any of what you suffered, but you have found happiness now so Franky tells me.”

Bea looked across at Franky as she just sat with her hands up, a grin on her face.

“Yes…yes I have, and I never thought I would, never though I deserved it.”

“Believe me you do deserve it Bea.”

Bea couldn't believe what she had just heard, she could barley breath, was unable to speak, she was stunned, her words bounced around in her head, her comment was so out of character, so far removed from how she remembered her she just sat there staring at her open mouthed. Her brain was unable to formulate any other thoughts other than to try and register that she was shocked. Closing her mouth she looked down at the table before glancing back up to catch her eye. After a few seconds she regained her ability to think and speak.

“People can grow strong enough, sometimes you just have no choice, love can make you stronger than you ever thought possible, it can fix your soul, take away the bad things, I wish it was something I'd had all my life. I tried so hard with Harry to act like there was no cage holding me in, I wore a mask of normality. I tried until I couldn't take anymore and if it hadn't have been that we had Debbie I'm sure he would have killed me. I always thought he would do it eventually, that would be my only escape, I believe it is possible to be so emotionally starved though that eventually I did slip through the bars of his cage. I learned how to hide the pain, to look normal. I understand how someone can become so cold inside to try and escape the pain and isolation, how they can wither and die, accept numbness over feeling anything. The thing is, regardless of how bad the pain was, feeling incomplete was worse.”

“I'm so grateful that you agreed to speak to me, and I know you didn't have to. I have a lot of time to make up for, but I would like to try if you would let me.”

“Why would you want to?”

“Debbie is still my granddaughter, I have a lot to make up to her if she will let me, I need to explain things to her as well as you, and I know you probably won't even consider it but I'd like it if you would both be at the funeral, it may give you the final closure that you need.”

“I can't speak for Debbie but I don't think I would want to be there, I'd have to speak to her.”

“I understand, let me give you my phone number, I'm afraid I really have to be going.”

Scribbling down her number on a piece of paper she pulled from her bag she handed it over to Bea.

“Please talk to Debbie and I hope I'll hear from you soon.”

———————————————

Once back at the office Franky retreated to her office having a few calls to make leaving Bea sitting with her thoughts. She knew she would have to call Debbie even if she didn't want to know she wasn't going to keep it from her, she'd hidden enough from her when she was growing up not that in the end it had made any difference, Debbie had worked out for herself what was happening long before it all came to a head.

After sitting alone for a while Liz knocked on her door asking if she could take a call from a potential new client, having nothing else to occupy herself with apart from her thoughts she agreed straight away. After spending half an hour on the phone she had said that she would have to speak to Franky and that she would get Liz to call them back to arrange an appointment if Franky was agreeable. She didn't like the sound of what was involved, she'd had enough shit to deal with over the Channing disaster and wasn't sure she wanted to get involved. Leaving her office she found Franky chatting with Liz.

“New case hey Red?”

“Hmmm, maybe, I’m not sure we should take it though.”

“Oh come on, ya gotta tell me.”

“I'm going to, let me get a coffee first would you?”

Taking a seat next to Franky she started to explain, it was an old case that the police had never been able to resolve, a young boy had gone missing six years ago and every lead the police had all came to nothing. A year earlier the boys parents had contacted another private investigator and he had made some headway but had now stalled again, it was he who had called, naturally the boys parents were heartbroken and had begged him to do everything he possibly could to find out where their son was, alive or dead they needed to know. The main problem Bea could see was that this case was that it had happened in Sydney, and they would have to head over there at some point. Franky sat in silence for a while before she said anything even though Bea had reservations she knew that she couldn't really turn it down.

“I know David is starting his course but I'm sure he’d be willing to help out where he can, good experience for him, and I might be able to get Linda to help out, she has plenty of contacts. I say we take it.”

“And if it all goes to shit what then Franky?”

“We do what we always do, we deal with it, look what we just got tied up in, nothing could be as bad as that.”

Liz had been listening to the whole conversation and she had to agree with Franky.

“Bea love, we both know you can't turn this down. It's a little boy, can you live knowing that you could help but haven't?”

Bea shook her head, she knew she couldn't do nothing, and it wouldn't be so bad if she had to go to Sydney, Debbie was there after all.

“Call him back Liz, set up an appointment for him next week, I've got too much to think about this week.”

“Sure love, I'll do that now, your looking tired, why don't you get yourself home, there's nothing much to do around here anyway is there Franky?”

“Na, its dead, bugger off and spend some time with blondie.”

“You do realize she's at work for another hour and a half don't you?”

“And, after the day you've had I reckon you can think of something to pass the time till she gets home.”

“I guess...... you know what, your right, I need to make it up to her for being late home yesterday.”

“That's settled then, off you go.”

Grabbing her things from her office she said her goodbyes to Franky and Liz and headed home, on the drive back home Bea decided that she wanted to do something different for dinner that evening, as soon as she walked in the house she had an idea, grabbing her mobile from her pocket hoping she could call in a favour.

“Bea, it's been ages, what can I do for you?”

“I know it's short notice Matthew, but I don't suppose you have any tables for two free for a late dinner?”

“I'm not sure, let me call Georgie and I'll call you straight back.”

“Thanks Matthew.”

Kicking off her shoes she wondered into the kitchen to get a drink, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, she'd just sat on the sofa when her phone rang.

“Matthew, that was quick.”

“You're in luck, Georgie just had a cancellation, for the late dinner tonight.”

“That's great, I owe you one Matthew.”

“Hey, I reckon I still owe you a few favours, give Georgie a call so you can pay for it before someone else sneaks in, and don't forget you need to arrive at least 15 minutes early, so don't be any later than 8:20pm, I'm working tonight so I'll see you then.”

“Sure thing Matthew, we won't be late, I'll see you later.”

Hanging up she called Georgie finalising their evening then sent a text to Allie.

**I have a surprise for you later, don't be late home will you xx**

She didn't expect a reply so was surprised when one came almost straight away.

**And what have I done to deserve a surprise? xx**

**Can't I just surprise you for no reason xx**

**Course you can, I'll see you soon, I won't be late I promise xx**

Checking the time she decided to go and decide what to wear, if they were both trying to decide what to wear at the same time they would only get in each other's way, and there was no way they could be late.

———————————————

“Babe why won't you just tell me where we're going?”

“It's a surprise, but trust me it's a good surprise.”

“Ok, well I'll just have to trust you.”

“Yes you will, come on the taxis here.”

Picking up her bag Bea opened the front door allowing Allie to leave the house first before she turned to lock the door behind them, Allie was waiting for her and Bea took her hand walking down the drive to the waiting taxi. Bea opened the door for Allie,

“After you.”

“Thank you, but really what is all this for?”

Bea just smiled at her before closing the door and walking round to the other side of the taxi, after getting in she told the driver to take them to Normanby Road in South Melbourne. Bea once again took Allie’s hand looking over at her she leaned in and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

“I promise you're going to love this.”

They spent most of the journey just looking at each other, Allie was puzzled why Bea was doing this, she wasn't going to complain but Bea wasn't a fan of surprises and if she planned anything she usually told her. Pulling up outside the Crown Casino Bea checked the time, 8:10pm, paying the driver she told Allie to stay where she was as she got out quickly walking round to the over side of the car and opening the door for Allie, extending her hand to help her get out. Crossing the road Allie was stunned as they walked towards ‘The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant’.

“Bea, how did you manage this?”

“I told you before I have people who owe me favours.”

“But this is so expensive, and always fully booked.”

“Hmmm, maybe, but I happen to think your worth it.”

As soon as they entered the glossy burgundy restaurant on wheels they were greeted by the maitre’d with a warm smile, after Bea showed him their voucher that she'd had sent to her phone he happily showed them to their table, that was already set with silverware and glasses, Matthew and a few other waiters were already hard at work serving the appetisers that consisted of crackers and two rosettes of dip. Matthew approached their table a bottle of Shiraz in hand,

“Bea, I'm so happy to see you, can I pour you both a glass?”

“Thank you, Matthew this is Allie, my girlfriend.”

“Wow Bea you really are full of surprises, it's great to meet you Allie, hope your keeping this one out of trouble,” he laughed.

“Well I do try, but it's not always easy,” Allie softly giggled winking at Bea.

A few minutes later the tram juddered into life and they started to glide through the city streets, not that either of them were paying a great deal of attention to what was passing them by on the other side of the one way windows. Sitting at their table on the 1948 tram that was fitted out in velvet and brass just as the old Pullman style trains of the past had been surrounded by other people none of it mattered, the 5 course late dinner was a bonus, but everything just faded into the background when they looked at each other, and neither of them was overly keen on not holding the others gaze.

After ordering their entrée, both deciding on the smoked atlantic salmon, Allie looked a around for a few moments before returning her attention back to Bea.

“So are you gonna tell me what all this is for?”

“I told you already I just wanted to do something for you.”

“And that's the only reason?”

Bea looked out of the window trying to make sense of that mornings events once again, taking a deep breath she looked back at Allie, reaching over the table to take both her hands.

“Talking to Margaret this morning was a little tough, and I'm glad I spoke to you about it before I did it.”

Her eyes fell down to the table in front of her before she continued.

“I was late home yesterday and I made you a promise that I wouldn't keep doing that, and I know you said it didn't matter….after this morning I couldn't get out of my head the memories of how bad things used to be, and I know you know all that already, but I never want you to think that I don't appreciate everything you do for me, I never what you to feel like I take you for granted or that I don't love you.”

Looking up from from the table meeting Allies eyes, she released one of her hands bringing her to her cheek.

“I never want to make you feel the way I used to feel, even in the smallest way.”

Allie shook her head slightly.

“Bea, it was one time, you were half an hour late, and if you remember I was still in the shower when you got home. I could never think those things, you don't take me for granted and I do know that you love me, your nothing like he was, would he cook you dinner when he got home from work, run you a bath and tell you to relax after you got home, sit on the sofa and just hold you? You do all that and so much more on a daily basis, you don't have to do anything other than just be yourself….a little surprise here and there is nice of course, but this, this is huge, not that I'm complaining I've always wanted to do this.”

Bea smiled at her.

“I know, but your worth it, and maybe we have a case that might take me away from home and I don't want you to be angry with me.”

“Babe, I always knew that work might take you away for a few days, not gonna lie I'll hate you not being home with me, and you better make it back by Saturday night so we still get our Sundays together, I can't be angry with you because you have to work.”

As they sat and ate Bea couldn't help but let her thoughts drift, Allie maybe sitting right in front of her, they were together but she still consumed her thoughts, the memory of the first time she ever looked at her face, it hadn't been the perfect facial features that she saw first, it hadn't been her perfectly blue eyes, or her pomegranate pink lips. It had been the small blemishes and the insecurities that she could see that had drawn her in. The tiny scar on her cheek, so small that most people would never notice it was there at all, that shy smile she had given her when their eyes had first met, that was the very moment she had found the person who was perfectly imperfect for her, not she had even realized it herself at the time. Now each and every time she looked her way she could lose herself. Every mistake she had ever made, and she knew they were many, disappeared, every impure thought that had ever crossed her mind were all erased. Everything that had ever been negative in her life was cleansed, it was like a spiritual enlightenment. She couldn't hide anything from her, Allie’s eyes could see straight through her, but even when she got mad at her she didn't dwell on it for long, on the occasions that she had been a little selfish she did not hold it against her. Allie looked past every flaw that she had be they real or imagined, she saw the real Bea, and from that first moment, even though she didn't see it at the time she was perfectly imperfect for her too.

Bea was dragged back from her thoughts when Matthew stopped by their table to ask if they wanted another glass of wine and to take their main course order. Allie choosing the roasted chicken breast with mushrooms, bok choy and soy dressing, and Bea choosing the seared beef tenderloin with potato rosti, seasonal greens and red wine jus.

“How did it really go with Margaret? And tell me the truth.”

“It was hard, but Franky was there the whole time, she said I deserved to be happy, and she wants to get to know Deb, I need….we need to call her, I thought maybe we could video call her tomorrow.”

“You wouldn't rather do that on your own?”

“No, I need you to do this with me, Margaret asked if I would go to the funeral, I don't want to go, but I don't know if Deb will, and…well…I was hoping that if she did want to go maybe you would go with her.”

“I think that would be up to Debbie don't you?”

“Yes of course, but I know you love her, and I know she loves you, and I just thought….she can't go alone, if she wants to go at all.”

  
“I do love her, it would be hard not to, she's so much like you, if she does want to go and she wants me to go with her I would be more than happy to go with her but wouldn't that make things difficult, with Harry's parents I mean?”

“Margaret knows about you, Franky told her, not that I actually told her anything about you, and his father has already passed away, I'm sure she would be fine with you going to support Deb.”

“Then if it's what Debbie wants I'm fine with it, are you sure you don't want to go though, to finally get closure? I know you remember, you don't believe what you don't see with your own eyes.”

Before Bea could answer Matthew returned with their mains, stopping long enough to ask if they needed anything else before he rushed off again.

“Would you like to try some of mine babe?” Allie asked with a cheeky grin.

“I just knew you were going to ask that so I let you try mine, although yours does look really good.”

“Well nothing looks better than you do babe, the food is definitely second best.”

Bea couldn't help but blush, no matter how many times Allie said something like that to her it still felt strange, as if it were being said to someone else, but it wasn't, Allie had told her once that she wished she could see herself as she saw her, and she did try, she was starting to believe that she was worthy of everything Allie offered her, but the compliments would still make her blush. Feeding each other small bites of their meals eventually ended in Allie not only eating most of her own but most of Bea’s as well, not that she cared, she would give Allie the whole world if she could. Allie knew Bea still had a long way to go, her demons were still there lurking in the background but she was getting better at telling her when things were bothering her. Allie knew she couldn't heal her, but she could help her heal. The love she knew she would always give her was like a meadow, a quiet place to reflect in complete peace and stillness, she wanted her to let the tornado of her long held pain and suffering slow down, in time she hoped it would stop. She wanted nothing more than to just love her, let her take her time to take the steps forward so she could learn that life wasn't always as she remembered, she had to heal from within. She knew too well that Bea was always looking for the worst and her mind would come up with endless solutions to problems that would never materialise. Her mind was powerful and would eventually find a way forward. Allie held nothing but the truest love for her, a love that she hoped would help her grow stronger than ever, and she would always love her so very much, that would never be in dispute, but in the moments when she saw the pain and fear in Beas eyes she could see right into her soul, and she could see that love reflected right back at her. Bea was brave, kind and always gave so much of herself and Allie wanted to show her that she would always give that back to her, she wanted to give her love, a love she hoped would last an eternity.

By the time they got to the cheese course Bea had to admit that she was getting a little full, and there was more of that course than Bea could have imagined, the chefs selection of cheeses were excellent, so to Allie said was the cherry jam and the spiced fruit loaf that accompanied them, Bea herself only tried the cheese and crackers.

After another glass of wine the dessert tasting plate was brought to them, they both loved the chocolate and orange torte although when it came to the vanilla pannacotta and mango Bea had to give in leaving Allie to finish it off, draining the remainder of their coffee from their cups Bea spotted Matthew approaching.

“Ladies, I really hope you enjoyed your meal.”

Bea sat back in her seat a little before rubbing her stomach

“It was amazing Matthew, would you tell John that it was the best meal I think I've ever eaten.”

“I will pass that on to him, no doubt his head will get a little bigger though,” Matthew laughed as both Bea and Allie laughed with him.

Ten minutes later they were stepping off the tram, hand in hand they walked over to the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

“I know it's a little late, and we both have work tomorrow but would you like a short walk along the Yarra River?”

Allie didn't want the night to end, everything had been so perfect, and she agreed without giving it a second thought, it was only just after 11:30pm. They took the short walk up Spencer Street to the river walking hand in hand before taking a seat on the first bench they came to.

“Did you enjoy this evening?” Bea asked quietly as she wrapped her arm around Allie’s shoulders pulling her in close.

“It was perfect, you're perfect,” Allie whispered as she rested her head on Bea’s shoulder.

They sat for a while longer listening to the sound of the river and looking at the night sky until Bea felt Allie shiver a little.

“Your cold, come on let's go home.”

“It is getting a little chilly just sitting here but it's fine, I love sitting here with you like this.”

“I don't want you to be cold, and if we go home I can always warm you up.”

“Hmmm, think I like the sound of that……take me home.”

They walked back to the Crown Casino, Bea called a taxi as they walked back. Reaching the casino they turned to face each other, both wrapping their arms around each other's waists, each pulling the other as close as possible, looking into Allie’s eyes Bea could see her own desire reflected right back at her. Their lips met and before long their tongues were dancing together seductively. Pulling away when they both needed air they looked at each other.

“Fuck Allie, have you any idea what you do to me?”

“Well if I do the same to you that you do to me then yes I do.”

The taxi arrived a few moments later, Bea opened the door for Allie and Allie smiled at her as she was closing the door, the drive home was spent cuddled up to each other, reaching home Bea again paid the driver before getting out and racing around to open the door for Allie, walking up the drive an arm around each other they both wore a smile. As soon as they entered the house and  Bea had closed and locked the door Allie pushed Bea back against it as their lips found each other's, pulling away slightly Allie looked at Bea,

“Come to bed, before I can't control myself any longer,” Allie whispered.

“Lead the way babe, I'm all yours.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really need to start doing more planning for my chapters so maybe I can write then a little quicker.
> 
> If anyone was wondering the 'The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant' does exist, for anyone who's interested take a look at their website here:  
> http://tramrestaurant.com.au
> 
> Since we are in the middle of experiencing 'the beast from the east' and it's snowing, trust me it's cold hovering between -3 to -6 most of the time, I may get another chapter finished soon as I have no desire to leave the house.


	85. Chapter 85

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really fed up with the snow now, can't wait for it to warm up...on the plus side it's kept me indoors so I'm a little earlier posting this chapter.
> 
> I'd say a fraction of this chapter is NSFW.

The next evening Bea arrived home just ten minutes before Allie and after deciding that she was too tired to bother cooking opted for ordering takeout, she knew Allie would settle for pizza being that her and Debbie were always happy with pizza. And then she remembered that they were going to video call Debbie. Speaking to Debbie wasn't a problem, telling her that her grandmother wanted to be part of her life after never really being a presence in it was, she couldn't think how to word it, and when Allie found her in the kitchen she was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. Bea didn't hear her walk in the house, didn't hear her call her name, she just paced and worried, she felt things that she knew were irrational, her perceived failures when it came to telling Debbie anything Harry related dominated her mind. She thought about how she was going to tell her, what words would she use? Everything she thought of seemed inadequate, in the present moment her mind just seemed ineffective. When Allie walked into the kitchen she instantly knew what was going on in her head and she couldn't think of anything worse than finding her in her current state, walking up behind her she wrapped her arms around her waist stopping her in her tracks the second she touched her.

“Babe calm down, everything is going to be fine,” she whispered in her ear.

Bea bowed her head and a single tear rolled down her cheek, Allie to her was like a lullaby on the wind, she was softness and laughter, she soothed her, took all her pain and made it manageable. Her touch created a person capable of recovering from her from her current anxious state, she made her stronger, gave her a few simple words and they were like music to her ears.

“How do you always know?”

“What's bothering you you mean? Babe I know you, I'm always going to know when your worried and scared, trust me, it's going to be fine, Debbie will either say she wants nothing to do with her or give her a chance to explain herself, she's so much like you, you gave her a chance even though you wanted to punch her in the face, and I'll be right there with you when you tell her.”

Turning around in her arms to face her she looked at her seeing nothing but love in her eyes. Her body no longer felt as if it were caged, Allie unlocked it, opened the door that she hadn't though was there. She took the worry, fear and pain and made it bearable, she saw the person that she truly was. No matter how she felt or what was going on in her life Allie always stood firm, reassuring her, comforting her, giving her the feeling of being a bird in the sky, once more able to fly straight through the storm that only existed in her head.

“When we tell her!”

“Yes….when we tell her, I'll be right by your side, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than right where you are, no matter what the outcome.”

“Have I told you today that I love you so fucking much?”

“Hmmm, now let me think…..yer, I believe you told me this morning,” Allie giggled.

“Yer? Well don't you ever forget that I do.”

“I won't, now shall we just order a pizza after I've had a shower, I really don't feel like cooking.”

“So now you're a mind reader?”

“How do you work that out?”

“Because I had the same idea.”

“I’ll just grab a quick shower, wash the bar off me, Shane had a little accident and I got more on me than he did.”

  
Allie kissed Bea before she rushed off up the stairs, leaving Bea stood shaking her head, she realized that she hadn't asked her if she wanted her to order the pizza while she was in the shower or wait until after they had called Debbie. Bea followed her upstairs a couple of minutes later heading straight for the en suite, opening the shower enclosure door so she could speak to her.

“Allie babe, do you want…..”

Bea’s words got stuck in her throat when she saw Allie standing in the shower, her back towards her, she’d seen her stood like that so many times before yet she was still mesmerised. She stood and watched as the water ran down her back over her extremely shapely ass and down her long sexy legs. She stood there totally in awe of the woman in front of her for several seconds before Allie turned around and smiled at her.

“Babe, what are you staring at?”

“Total perfection,” was all Bea could mumble.

“Oh really? Well you know it's kinda lonely in here, why don't you join me?” Allie replied in a seductive tone.

Bea didn't need asking twice, she practically ripped of her clothes, almost falling over trying to get out of her jeans and joined her, her arms encircling her waist and pulling her close. Allie loved the feeling of her strong arms wrapped around her, to her she was a living work of art, her skin was so tempting to touch. Bea pushed her back a little closer to the wall as she kissed her neck.

“Bea, baby please, I need you.”

That was all the extra encouragement Bea needed, she pushed her against the tiled wall, their lips meeting in a searing kiss. Running her hands over her soft skin she took both of her breasts in her hands, squeezing them in her hands before before pinching both nipples between her fingers. Allie needed more and she knew that judging by the way she was digging her fingers into her shoulders. Pulling back a little she looked into eyes that she loved so much, eyes that told her everything she she felt she ever needed to know. Dropping to her knees she lifted her left leg and draped it over her shoulder, her tongue finding it's way to her clit within seconds, her hands finding their way to her perfect ass, hearing Allie’s soft moans was enough for her to forget every thought that had been in her head over the previous few hours or so, the woman in front of her was all she cared about right now everything else, weather good or bad, be damned. Allie completely surrendered to her, her hands finding their way into her hair, as she moaned a little louder. Bea loved the feeling of being in complete control, yet loved knowing that Allie was going to lose herself and she was the only reason, and right then her horny brain didn't want it to ever end. She knew Allie was close, removing her right hand from its resting place she slowly pushed two fingers into her,

“Fuck….Bea…don't stop.”

She had no plans of stopping as she pulled her fingers out only to re enter her with three, pumping into her faster and harder than she had before, Allie came screaming her name as Bea worked her through her orgasm until she felt like she might pass out. Removing her leg from her shoulder she stood slowly as she tried to keep her upright, holding her close as the warm water cascaded over their bodies that were now tightly pressed together. Regaining her composure Allie snaked her arms around Beas waist trying to pull her closer as she kissed her softly at first, until it became more demanding.

Allie let her hands wander over Bea’s body wanting to feel every inch of soft skin under her fingers this woman was who she had secretly longed for her whole life, but until they met it was a dream, one she could never imagine would come true, but here she was, holding the only woman she knew she would ever truly love for the rest of her life in her arms. Letting her hands wonder over her body she wished she could have met her years ago and she couldn't help but wonder what might have happened if they had. Spinning them around she pushed Bea firmly against the tiled wall where her own back had rested seconds before. Her hands eventually found their way to her breasts and she stroked them before she squeezed her nipples as Bea moaned into her mouth. Letting her hands wonder once more she she managed to work a hand between their bodies finally reaching her destination she rubbed a finger back and forth across her clit making Bea moan and open her legs a little wider giving her better access. Allie readily accepted that unspoken invitation moving back a little as she pushed two fingers into her while keeping her thumb on her clit. Moving her head she took one of her nipples into her mouth as Bea pushed her breast against her mouth.

“Allie….fuck…Allie, I'm…I'm…”

Allie stopped sucking her nipple and looked up at her,

“I know babe, just let go.”

Allie felt her muscles clench as she came moaning her name but she didn't stop until she was sure she had worked her through every second of her orgasm. Removing her fingers she held on to Bea as she gasped for air unable to think let alone speak.

Finally getting out of the shower Allie smirked at her over her shoulder,

“Was that the only thing you came up here for?”

“What? No, no….i was going to ask you if you wanted me to order the pizza or if you wanted to call Deb first but you distracted me.”

Turning back to face her Allie handed her a towel,

“Well I hope it was a good distraction.”

Bea just smiled at her, Allie was the only distraction she needed, would ever need, it didn't matter matter what was going on just knowing that she was close to her could and very often did make her lose her train of thought, her eyes would always seek her out, in a room full of people she would always find her.

———————————————

Sitting close together on the sofa with Bea’s iPad ready to FaceTime Debbie she couldn't help but feel nervous even though she knew she shouldn't, her heart sank with the feelings she experienced as she looked at the iPad in her hands and she felt her whole body shake, none of it was lost in Allie as she pulled her closer. Bea was afraid to lose control in front of Debbie, she didn't want to break down in front of her, telling her Harry was dead had been hard, harder than in reality it should have been, Debbie didn't even really know her grandmother, she had never been in her life and as a child had never asked about her grandparents, to her all she had was her gramps and that had been enough. She tried to breath calmly as she sunk closer to into Allie’s side, the nerves and anxiety flowed away but she still shook. Closing her eyes her head resting against Allies shoulder trepidation rose in her as she slowly opened her eyes and looked back at the iPad.

“Bea, I'm staying right here with you, Debbie's not going to be mad at you, she's sensible, we both know that, she's going to listen to what you tell her and she may be a little pissed about a woman she barely knows wanting to walk back into her life but she's not going to blame you for telling her.”

“I know, I'm being stupid.”

“Babe you're not stupid, your feelings are never stupid.”

“I should be able to control all this, I should be the master of my thoughts, maybe I think too much, maybe I think too deeply about things that I really shouldn't dwell on. I think better when I'm calm, I think better when you're here, and I know most of what I think is driven by impulse when I feel anxious.”

“I'm here, I'm not going anywhere, even if you try to make me leave I won't go, you can't scare me away because I love you.”

Eventually fully regaining her composure she placed the call to Debbie a smile on her face as soon as she saw her.

“Mum, Allie, is everything ok?”

“Everything's fine sweetheart, we just needed to talk to you.”

“Ok, so what's going on?”

“Well, umm….”

“Allie is this going to bad because if it is I think you better tell me.”

“It depends on how you take it I guess,” she said as she looked at Bea and squeezed her hand.

“Deb, I'm just going to tell you, yesterday I had a visitor in the office and to say I was shocked is an understatement.”

“Come on mum, just tell me already would you?”

“I'm getting there give me a second will you? I doubt that you really remember your grandmother, you did after all only ever see her a few times since Harry didn't want you near his family, she turned up in the office yesterday and wanted to speak to me, my first thought was to throw her out. Anyway to cut a long story short I met her in the diner near the office and I did speak to her, she asked if we would go to Harry's funeral and…..”

“Come on mum.”

“She wants to get to know you.”

“Oh….do you know when the funeral is?”

“I didn't ask.”

“I don't think I really want to go alone and I know you'll not be going and I can't blame you for that, you won't be angry if I wanted to go would you?”

“Why would I be angry?”

“I don't know, I don't want to upset you, I need to think about it.”

“You don't have to give me an answer right now, she gave me her number so I could call her and ask if you want to know.”

“I think I'll come home Friday afternoon, I only have a class in the morning, if that's ok with you two.”

“When would we not want you to come home?”

“Never I hope.”

They chatted for a little while longer, Debbie filling them in on the mountain of coursework she had and telling them a couple of funny stories about some of her friends and Bea telling her that there was a chance she may have to spend some time in Sydney before they ended their call saying they would see her on Friday.

Allie got up and went to the kitchen to get them both a beer while Bea called in their pizza order, returning a minute later .

“You want to watch tv or listen to music, it's too quiet.”

“And what's wrong with it being quiet?”

“Nothing if you're sleeping, but we aren't are we?”

“Then you choose, I don't care what we do.”

Allie thought about it for a few moments before deciding to turn the tv on, flicking through the channels until she found a movie that they hadn't watched. Getting comfortable she rested her head on Bea’s shoulder her eyes glued to the screen. Bea herself was paying little attention to the tv, her thoughts as usual turning to the blonde at her side and how everything felt different when she was around. Telling Debbie what she needed to had always been one of the hardest things she ever had to do, doing it alone generally resulted in a lot of things going unsaid and she regretted that, with Allie there to stop the disintegration of her thoughts, preventing the deterioration of what was on her mind, the thought occurred to her that not everyone was as fortunate as she felt. Not that she had ever thought she would ever find anyone who could take all her crap and turn it into something positive. That Allie loved her like she did was a miracle in her eyes and she treasured every moment of everyday that they spent together, life would be beautiful if everyone had love like they had in their lives. Allie gave her strength to confront her fears, her anger and her failings, not that Allie believed she was the reason whenever Bea told her that, and with everything that she had told her, and everything in the future that she still hadn't said to her she was amazed that she really was worthy of her love. It was that love that gave her the strength to really know herself, look in the mirror with unguarded eyes and realize that, even though she was far from perfect, she was good enough to be loved and give love and she wasn't afraid of that emotion anymore.

The knock on the door made Allie jump a little.

“Come on beautiful let me get that, it'll be the pizza.”

“Bout time I'm starving,” Allie grumbled as she lifted her head from her shoulder.

Bea just laughed at her as she took off towards the door paying for the pizza and returning straight back to the sofa putting the box down on the coffee table.

“Dig in then, I'm not in the mood for creating dirty dishes.”

Bea only ate a couple of slices, Allie eating all but one slice.

“Really you can't fit that in?”

“Well you could eat it, I'm not stopping you.”

“I'm not really hungry.”

“You didn't work up an appetite earlier in the shower?”

Allie lay on the sofa resting her head in Bea’s lap while Bea ran her fingers through her hair. The movie was almost over when Bea yawned.

“You want to go to bed?”

“I'll wait for you, you've been watching this from the start you may as well finish it.”

“I don't mind turning it off, and it's not really as good as I thought it would be.”

———————————————

As Allie opened her eyes the world was silent, the sun was still well below the horizon and their bedroom as dark as if it belonged in some black and white movie from a bygone era. Closing her eyes she felt the pull of her dreams calling her back to play. Opening her eyes again she lifted her head from the pillow, looking past her sleeping girlfriend to the clock, it was early, too early but she didn't want to go back to sleep, she just wanted to lay there enjoying the silence of the early morning hour with Bea in her arms. Bea moved and turned over facing her and in the darkness she could see the serenity plastered across her face as she slept, completely at peace, oblivious to the physical world. She closed her eyes and fell back into a peaceful sleep, waking as the sun was rising. As sunlight filled the sky, its hue illuminating each crevice of their room, the birds chirped their background melody her breathing paused as she looked at Bea and she wished she could halt time. Bea had an understated beauty, maybe it was just because she was so truly unaware of just how beautiful she was. Her skin was completely flawless, she had no need to use expensive skincare products, that wasn't her style anyway, she was all about keeping things simple, making things easy. Maybe that was the reason her skin glowed, it was her inner beauty that softened her features and set her eyes alight. When she smiled or laughed Allie could never help but smile right along with her. To be in her company made her feel like she was truly someone, that she had been warmed by the suns rays no matter what the weather.

She could think of many ways to describe the woman she loved, steady as a rock, courages, kind, caring, sensitive, sweet, brave, intelligent, smart, funny, articulate, patient, thoughtful, determined. Checking the time once again she decided to get out of bed, slowly removing herself from under Beas arm she went to en suite to freshen up before going downstairs to put the coffee on and make a start on breakfast, hoping she could beat the alarm clock when she remembered she hadn't turned off the alarm before leaving the bedroom. She stood looking out of the window, Bea really had surprised her with the tramcar restaurant and she was determined to surprise her in some way, even though she knew she would protest and tell her not to waste her money on her, they had talked about taking another holiday but that was something next time they were planning to decide on together, staring out of the window she remembered Bea once saying that she would love to visit the woodlands rainforest, Allie had never heard of it before when Bea had mentioned it and hadn't thought about it since, she decided that as soon as she got to work she was going to look into it while the bar was still quiet. She knew she would have to work quickly though if she was going to take her there for a weekend away as she had said that she might have to go to Sydney and she planned on asking her more about that that over dinner that evening. She hadn't even made a start on breakfast when the alarm woke Bea, opening her eyes she was a little disappointed to find herself alone, turning off the alarm she slipped out of bed, going to the en suite before going in search of her favourite blonde. Finding her still looking out of the window, the smell of fresh coffee in the air she walked straight up behind her, her arms creeping round her waist as she kissed her on the neck.

“Shit Bea why do you always sneak up on me?”

“I didn't, you weren't paying attention, what were you thinking about?”

“I was thinking about breakfast, can't decide what we’re having, is there anything you want?”

“Can I have you?”

“Hmmm, well you could but then you might be late for work.”

“It would be worth it.”

“Even when Franky teases you all day?”

  
“Ok you win, I can't put up with Franky giving me a hard time all day.”

Turning around in her arms Allie looked into her eyes, all the beauty in the entire universe could never compete with what she saw, passion. Passion turned her eyes in to orbs of the brightest flame, passion made her even more beautiful than she was.

“So breakfast?”

“I'm not really hungry.”

“Bea Smith, you hardly ate anything yesterday, you have to eat.”

“I'm fine with coffee, I promise I'll get something at lunch.”

“You know I'm going to call Franky and make sure you do don't you?”

“I don't doubt it for a second beautiful.”

Releasing her hold on Allie she grabbed a couple of mugs and poured them both a coffee, passing one to Allie before she turned and walked out of the kitchen so she could shower and get ready for work. Allie quickly decided on having toast for breakfast before going back upstairs to get ready. Walking into the bedroom Bea was already dressed.

“You look gorgeous babe.”

“I'm dressed for work Allie, I really don't.”

The compliments Allie always paid her in a strange way to her made her life more bearable, even though she still wasn't used to hearing them and wasn't sure that she even liked them half the time. Every time she looked in the mirror she still felt ugly, remembering the first time Allie ever called her beautiful she thought she was crazy, but whenever she felt worthless now she remembered what Allie always told her, she was beautiful, she was gorgeous, her compliments were starting to fill the emptiness she still at times felt, but more than that they were starting to replace the negativity in her life, take away the darkness that had been there for so long and replaceing it with light.

“Well I better get going, I want to do some digging into this case, I can wait until next week but I want to know what we might be getting ourselves into now.”

“Don't be late home will you?”

“I won't, even if I have to ask Liz to kick my ass out of the office.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll start working on the next chapter tomorrow, seems I'm getting a little tired and I know from experience I do not write well when I'm tired.


	86. Chapter 86

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again I'm a little later getting this chapter finished....I hate migraines!

Friday morning had arrived and Bea was sitting in her office, in a few hours Debbie would be arriving home for the weekend, she couldn't wait to see her but guessed she would have loads of questions about Margaret, she wasn't even sure if she would be able to answer most of them but she was determined to do her best.

The previous evening she had got Allie to help her look through a box of old photographs that she hadn't touched in years for fear of the memories that they might bring back. Of course Allie had no idea what Harry even looked like let alone his parents but had been quite happy to sit with her quietly and offer her support if she needed it. It had been tough when she found an envelope that had Harry's hand writing on it, finding it contained the few photographs that he actually kept, every negative emotion that she buried she could feel and they made her feel weak. The feelings felt like they were crammed into her chest, and the space felt so full that it eventually spilled out, Allie of course had taken it in her stride, calming her down and talking it through with her.

Liz informed both Bea and Franky that the private investigator had called the day before while they were both out of the office wanting her to pass on the message that he had sent copies of all his files on the case over to them so they weren't completely in the dark when he arrived the following week, they had just arrived and Liz was a little taken aback when she had first seen how much there was, the courier had delivered four large boxes that were now sitting on top of her desk. Knowing that Debbie would be on her way home soon she didn't really want to disturb Bea so went to Franky. Walking out of her office Franky couldn't believe what she was seeing.

“Fuck that guy has done a lot of work.”

“Yes love, looks like he must have.”

“I'll put all this in my office for now, Red doesn't need to know how much there is until Monday, I'll have a quick look through it, see if I can find the original police investigation.”

Taking the boxes to her office Franky began looking through them eventually finding what she had been looking for, leaving two large files on her desk she put the boxes out of sight just in case Bea went to her office for any reason. After getting herself a coffee she returned to her office to start reading. Ryan Green was 6 years old at the time of his disappearance, the last time he was seen he was outside his home riding his bike. An extensive search of the area had been conducted but neither he or his bike were ever found, living in the Earlwood area of Sydney there had been fears that he could have drowned in Cooks River but after a dive team had spent days searching no evidence was ever found to substantiate that theory. A witness had later come forward and said that Ryan had been seen talking to a man in a dark blue or black mid sized car shortly before he had been reported missing. A sketch artist had done a drawing of the man the witness had seen and flyers had been distributed, appeals were made on the news but no one had ever been identified who he was. There had been a few reported sightings of him but they had never come to anything. The police had finally stopped investigating and the case was now considered a cold case. Franky had only Got about halfway through the first file when Bea wondered into her office.

“I'm going to head home before I need to pick Deb up, you don't need me do you?”

“Na, if I do I can call ya.”

“Doesn't mean I'll answer.”

“Like you would ever ignore me Red, tell Deb I said hi.”

“I will, not sure if I'll be in tomorrow, no idea how this is going to go.”

“Hey, none of that, you got this, I know how much you hate having to talk about all this shit but ya can do it.”

“I know, and it's Deb that has to decide what she wants to do.”

Once home Bea was restless, she hadn't put the photographs away the night before and hadn't paid them any attention that morning but now she was alone in the house the fact that they were sitting right there on the coffee table made her jumpy, picking them up she put them in a draw, ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ she thought to herself. Sitting on the sofa she sat perfectly still for a while until she looked at the time, running a shaky hand through her hair and biting her bottom lip trying to hold back tears that she didn't want to cry, it wasn't going to help, wouldn't change a thing. And why did she even feel like she could cry? She should be happy, Debbie was going to be at home until Sunday evening, Allie wasn't working all weekend since the work had finally been completed at the bar and Will wasn't opening until 6pm, tomorrow was as he joked, ‘The grand opening’ and they would all be together for that, Franky, Liz, Maxine and Boomer had all been invited. She hoped that they could get this conversation out of the way quickly and that Debbie didn't have any difficult questions, she knew she didn't have the answers, if she wanted to know more then she would have to at least call her grandmother and speak to her.

Waiting in arrivals it wasn't long before she spotted Debbie walking in her direction, a huge smile on her face, waving at her, Bea couldn't help but smile.

“Mum, it's so good to be home even if it is only for the weekend, is Allie at work?”

“It's good to have you home, Allie’s working but not tomorrow, but I'll let her tell you about that.”

“Can we get out of here then?”

“Next you're going to tell me your starving.” Bea laughed

“Hey you know me too well mum.”

Leaving the airport they headed straight for the car, not long after they set off Debbie felt an overwhelming need to say what had been on her mind on her flight home.

“Mum….I…I, well…I think I'm going to go to Harry's funeral, and I know you aren't going to want to be there….”

“Sweetheart it's fine, I told you to think about it, he was still….”

“Please mum, I know what you're going to say and I don't see him as that, he's part of the reason I'm here and as much as I wish I could change that I can't, neither of us can. That's not the reason I want to go, I just need to make sure that's it's not a lie, I need to know he's gone and that he can't ever hurt you again.”

“You don't want to go alone though do you?”

“No, not really, I did think about asking Franky if she'd go with me but since you told me you have a new case I think you'll need her more….I thought I could ask Allie, but she might not want to go.”

“I asked if she would, she said that was your decision.”

“So it would be alright for me to ask her? Maybe Liz would come to, I don't want to be there with all those people I don't know.”

“Debs all you have to do is ask them, I'm pretty certain they will both go with you.”

“Good, can we order pizza when Allie gets home, we need to talk and I think we need to do that sooner rather than later.”

“Yes Deb we can order pizza, if I didn't know any better I'd think that's all you came home for.”

As soon as they entered the house Debbie announced that she was going for a shower and left Bea to her own thoughts. Checking the freezer they were out of ice cream, they didn't really bother to buy any when Debbie wasn't home, she had thought they had some but then Bea had remembered that Allie had finished it a few days ago and Bea knew that if their conversation went on for longer than an hour Debbie would be complaining if there wasn't any. She didn't really want to face the supermarket on a Friday so decided to send Allie a text.

**Would you do me a big favour? xx**

Receiving a reply a couple of minutes later.

**I'll do anything for you, what do you need babe? xx**

**Could you pick some ice cream up on your way home please xx**

**I will, guessing its for Debbie, I'll see you both soon, I love you xx**

As soon as Allie walked into the supermarket she knew this was going to take longer than it really should, the place was crowded, ‘may as well make it a worthwhile trip,’ she thought to herself. They very rarely bought snacks when Debbie wasn't home, wondering through the isles as fast as she could she picked out a few things that she knew Debbie liked before eventually getting to the ice cream, picking up chocolate and strawberry she made her way over to the checkout, spotting one that seemed to be moving faster than the rest. She eventually made it home 45 minutes later than normal but she thought that was good given how busy the supermarket had been. As soon as she walked into the house she could hear laughing coming from the living room and she couldn't help the smile that crept across her lips hearing Bea and Debbie laughing, kicking off her shoes she walking in to the living room, bags in hand,

“Ok, so are one of you going to let me in on the joke?”

“Hey Allie, aren't you late, mum said you get in just after five.”

“I do normally but someone needed me to pick up ice cream.”

“Mum, we could have done that on the way home.”

“Yer, but I didn't know we didn't have any until we got home.”

Getting up from the sofa Bea offered to take the bags to kitchen so Allie could go for a shower, Allie refused and Bea followed her,

“I'm afraid it's going to be pizza again.”

“I'm not going to complain.”

“No?”

Walking closer to Bea so she could whisper in her ear, “are you telling me now so I don't get a repeat performance of the other night?”

“Allie Deb can hear us.”

“That's why I whispered, I'm going for a shower, order the pizza now I won't be long I'm starving.”

Bea just shook her head as she watched Allie walk away, hearing Debbie ask if she'd had a good day and why she wasn't working the next day, Allie told her about the bar opening the next night and that she was invited.

———————————————

The pizza was eaten, the trash cleared away and the three of them were sitting on the sofa, Bea in the middle of Debbie and Allie. Not one of them spoke, Debbie had questions but didn't know how to ask them, Bea was afraid of not having the answers to the questions she knew Debbie wanted to ask and Allie just didn't know what to say, she had tried to leave them alone to talk but neither of them had agreed to that. Debbie had protested profusely the second Allie had said she was going to leave them to talk saying that she had been there for her mum through everything that had been thrown at them when most people would have walked away. Bea hadn't voiced her opinion quite so strongly or as loudly as Debbie, the few words she had said were only just above a whisper and if Allie hadn't been listening she would have missed it, but she clung onto her hand as if her life depended on it. Silence had descended between the three, the silence was the most terrifying part, it gave Debbie time to start to doubt if this was what she should be doing, asking questions about a time Bea didn't want to think about, let alone speak about. She needed to either speak or just forget the whole thing, the silence was almost painful and she wished for anyone but her to say something. Finally Debbie knew she had to say something, anything.

“What's she like?”

Bea turned her head slowly to look at Debbie before she answered.

“You mean now, or what did she used to be like?”

“Honestly mum I don't know, I don't remember her, so maybe it's better to tell me what she's like now.”

“She seems different, more relaxed, and I did get the feeling from her that she did want to get to know you, although I don't think she suffered as much as Harry made us suffer she still suffered.”

“Are there any pictures of her?”

Bea nodded, letting go of Allies hand she retrieved the photographs from the drawer where she had put them earlier, handing them over to Debbie before she sat back down. Debbie looked at the pictures, she remembered vaguely having seen her grandparents when she was young.

“How did it really go when you met her? Tell me everything mum, I need to make my mind up one way or another.”

Bea looked at the floor, closing her eyes for a second before she started to speak, telling her as much as she could remember about that meeting.

“I think I need to sleep on it, if I decided I want to meet her before the funeral will you call her?”

“If that's what you decide then of course I will, you look tired Deb.”

“I am, think I'm going to go up, I'll see you both in the morning.”

Bea began to relax now that conversation was over.

“Am I always going to be explaining things to her for the rest of my life?”

“She's you daughter babe, if she can't talk to you who else is there?”

“I guess, I just wish it didn't always make me feel so uncomfortable, it's always something that I don't like telling her about.”

“I know, hopefully there won't be much more that gets thrown at you….you look exhausted, you go up and I'll lock up.”

Bea just nodded, Allie was right, she needed to sleep. Allie locked up, turning the lights off as she went and headed upstairs, bumping into Debbie who looked slightly worried.

“Is everything alright Debbie?”

“Hmmm, yes and no, can I talk to you in my room? I need to ask you something and mum knows I'm going to ask you but I need to talk to someone, things have been playing on my mind since you both came to tell me that dickhead was dead and I can't lay it on mum, she's had enough of all of this crap.”

Allie followed Debbie back to her room, sitting in the chair at her desk while Debbie sat on her bed.

“I wanted to ask you something first, you know it's his funeral soon, and I want to go, might sound crazy but I want to make sure the fucker is dead, don't tell mum I called him that….getting back to my point, I wanted to ask you if you would go with me, you can say no, and I'll understand if you do.”

“Deb, I…I…wouldn't you rather ask Franky?”

“I would have asked you both, but I was going to ask you first anyway, Mum and Franky have this new case and I can't take Franky’s time up, so I was hoping that you and Liz would go with me.”

“If you really want me to go with you then I will, you shouldn't have to go alone.”

“Thank you, you have no idea how much that means to me.”

“You wanted to tell me something else?”

“Yer, all this has brought up some stuff that I really can't talk to mum about, and as much as I love Franky I'd rather talk to you if you don't mind.”

“Ok, take your time.”

Debbie really wasn't sure where to start, she'd never told Bea some of the things she had seen and heard growing up, or some of the things that Harry had put her through, but she needed to tell someone.

“When I was about 8, Harry was at work, the Friday night had been really bad and I'd hidden in my room, I felt so guilty letting mum go through that on her own but I couldn't do anything and mum had always told me to go to my room when things got bad. Anyway that Saturday mum took me to an adventure playground, it was a really nice day. I had been climbing on one of the climbing frames and mum had gone to get us ice cream. I lost my grip and fell, no real harm done, I cut my knee, someone helped me up and waited with me until mum got back, she was beside herself that I'd got hurt and I think she knew when he found out he would go mad, laying into her, telling her what a bad mother she was. When we got home he wasn't in, I guess he was down the pub with his mates, I got changed before he got back so he didn't see that I'd got hurt, he was drunk when he got in and nothing mum could do was right that night, his dinner wasn't what he wanted, it wasn't warm enough, there wasn't enough beer in the fridge. Luckily he passed out on the sofa and we had a relatively quiet night after that. When I went back to school on Monday the teacher asked everyone to write about what they had done at the weekend so I wrote about our trip to the adventure playground, I was so excited that I really had something fun to write about and I wanted to do well, my handwriting was the neatest it had ever been, I spelt every word correctly, after the teacher marked it I was so proud of myself when I got an A. I took it home that night so I could show mum and she was so pleased with me she put it on the fridge. When he came home, for a change not really drunk he was more calm than normal and I wanted to show him that I got an A, after he read it he almost lost his mind that I hadn't told him where we'd been or that I'd got hurt. He got more paper and a pencil and made me rewrite it, telling me what to write to describe how neglectful and terrible mum was, I cried the whole time that he made me do it, then he took what I had originally written and tore it up. He made me go to my room after that and I heard how bad he beat her, the next morning he wouldn't let mum take me to school, he took me himself, took me to my classroom and made me hand over my work to the teacher. I felt so vulnerable and naked standing there in front of my teacher while she read it all the time he stood behind me with a smug grin on his face, I don't even know if she read it properly and she still gave me an A, he took it with him and placed it back on the fridge for anyone who was interested enough to read it. I was too ashamed to look at mum, if I just hadn't shown him she wouldn't have got beaten that night, and I know she never blamed me but I ałways have.”

Halfway through Allie saw the tears rolling down her cheeks and had sat beside her on her bed, pulling her gently into a hug as she continued to recount that memory to her. She couldn't believe anyone could do that to a child.

“Shhh, it's ok, I know it hurts, but your mum has never blamed you for anything that happened and you know that, she loves you so much, your her whole world and you always will be.”

Allie sat holding her and rocking her gently until her tears subsided and turned to a sniffle.

“Can I tell you something else before you go?”

“Debbie you can tell me anything, I'll always listen to you the same way I listen to your mum.”

“Some nights when I was laying in bed nothing could ever drown out the shouting, all I could ever hear was him telling her that she was ugly, fat and useless, I came up with countless escape plans in my mind on nights like that. Apart from mum the most stable thing I had in my life was a pink elephant that mum bought me when I was about two. I felt like the foundations of my life were crumbling, and I was so afraid that I would loose mum and be left with him. I almost told gramps once when I was about ten but I knew I couldn't say anything for fear that he would fly straight back to Australia and kill him. I lived in constant fear, at night I had nothing to ward off the fear except my elephant and a blanket to hide under. Sometimes he didn't even wait for me to be in my room and he'd start trouble, that was worse, I would be right out there in the open, trying to sneak past hoping that he wouldn't see me, it happened once, he saw me under the kitchen table and he ordered me out from under it and made me sit and watch as he punched and kicked her.”

“You should never have had to go through that, either of you, and it makes me sick to my stomach to think how scared you both must have been.”

“I'm not her whole world anymore you know,” Debbie said as she yawned.

“Yes, you are, and that's how it should be.”

“No, we share her now, she loves you, and I know you love her. I can see even more why she does now, if you're this good to me, to sit and listen to things you don't need to really hear, I can only imagine what you must be like with her, she had it so much worse than I ever did…..I'm glad she found you, that you found each other, I feel so much better that you're here with her when I'm not.”

“I wouldn't want to be anywhere else Deb, I'll be here for both of you as long as you'll have me around.”

“I think mums planning on having you around forever,” Debbie giggled as she got into bed.

Allie got up from the bed, “I'll see you in the morning, are you coming to the opening tomorrow?”

“I would like to but I don't think I have anything to wear.”

“Well since I don't have to work tomorrow how about we go shopping and you can pick anything you like.”

“You don't have to do that Allie.”

“I know but I want to, now you try and get some sleep and I'll see you in the morning yer?”

  
“Night Allie.”

Leaving her room she headed back to their room finding Bea sitting up reading a book.

“Mind if I ask what took so long?”

“Debbie wanted to ask me if I would go to the funeral with her.”

“And?”

“Of course I'll go with her, you don't think I'd let her go alone do you?”

“She did ask me if I thought you'd go with her but I told her she'd have to ask you herself.”

“Oh so you knew all about it did ya?”

“Sorry, I didn't want to say anything, I know I asked you if you would but she did ask me."

“Right well, I'm taking her shopping in the morning, she wants something for tomorrow night, you want to come with us?”

“No! Actually I thought I might give Margaret a call, find out when the funeral is and if Deb decides she wants to meet her arrange something. She is ok isn't she?”

“She's got a lot on her mind, that's why I was so long, she wanted to talk to me, you're ok with that aren't ya?”

“Why wouldn't I be, it's good that she feels like she can talk to you, I know she doesn't like telling me when things are bothering her. Now are you coming to bed?”

“I am, just need to get changed, are you going to put that book down?”

After getting ready for bed Allie toppled onto it, relieved that the day was coming to an end, turning off the lamp the darkness and warmth from Bea who instantly gravitated towards her enveloped her. In the darkness holding each other felt like a little touch of heaven. Both wished that it could be possible to extend the night just so that they could stay close to each other for longer, stay safe in each other's embrace. Their arms wrapped around each other always brought them peace that neither of them had ever known before, neither spoke they didn't need words as they both succumbed to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of you who continue to stick with story, even through the boring chapters.


	87. Chapter 87

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allie and Debbie go shopping and Will's bar has it's reopening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't take me as long to write this chapter, I wasn't sure I would finish it today, but once I got started writing it just took off.

The next morning over breakfast Debbie and Allie decided that they were going to venture over to Melbourne Central for their shopping trip, both agreed that it was the best idea, it did have over 300 retailers over five levels what more could either of them ask for, Debbie joked that it was shopping heaven. Bea hand simply shook he head and rolled her eyes thinking the whole idea of that shopping destination was mad, the place was huge, it extended over two city blocks. Bea had only ever been there once with Franky and Debbie and she had no plans of ever going there again.

“You sure you don't want to tag along babe?”

“I think I'll pass, that is not my idea of fun, and don't blame me if you don't get home before it gets dark.”

“Mum, just because you got lost that one time you actually went there doesn't mean we will.”

“Hmmm, well good luck to you with that. Now can I change the subject and ask you if you want me to call your grandmother?”

Debbie sat in silence for a few moments as she studied the glass of orange juice in her hand.

“I need to know when the funeral is, I have to arrange to come back home and I need to speak to uni about why I need to be absent for a couple of days. And I think I would like to meet her before then, I don't know what to expect and to come face to face with her at the funeral for the first time would be awkward.”

“So you want me to call her?”

“You don't mind?”

“Of course not, the decision is yours, and I doubt you would want to call her yourself, I'll call after the two of you go shopping, might stop by the office for an hour make sure Franky hasn't burnt the place down since I left yesterday.”

Debbie and Allie made Bea go for a shower while they did the dishes, chatting and giggling about their impending shopping trip the whole time. When Bea returned to the kitchen they were sitting at the kitchen table, both with a fresh cup of coffee lost in their excitement about visiting Melbourne Central. Bea leaned against the door frame watching them, it made her so happy that they got on so well, that Debbie felt comfortable enough to talk to Allie when something was on her mind, she had never thought for one second that she could ever have what she has now, it was perfect, something she had tried to imagine so many times in the past but never dreamed she would ever find, never thought that she deserved this, this was her family and she loved them more than she could ever say.

“Mum why are you standing there like that?”

“Huh, oh no reason, just thinking that's all, what time are you leaving?”

“In about 10 minutes, it doesn't open until ten.”

Once they had left Bea decided that it was as good a time as any to call Margaret, she looked through her contacts hitting call when she came to her number. Margaret answered within a few rings.

“Hello.”

“Hey Margaret it's Bea, Deb asked me to give you a call.”

  
“She doesn't want to see me does she? I don't blame her for that.”

“Slow down, she wants to go to the funeral but she has to speak to whoever she needs to speak to at uni about taking a couple of days off. And she asked if we could arrange for you to meet, she's home for the weekend right now.”

“Really? Is she there? Can I speak to her?”

“Actually she's just left to go shopping with Allie.”

“Of course, she's young, she has better things to do than stay home all the time, I take it she gets on well with Allie?”

“She does, and I'm so glad she does.”

“I meant what I said to you Bea you deserve to be happy, you both do. Now, how does breakfast tomorrow sound? I could meet you at the same diner if that would be agreeable to you, and I do hope that you will be with her, and Allie of course, I don't want either of you to think I'm trying to push her out, after everything you went through it warms my heart knowing that you found someone who treats you right.”

“I can't speak for Allie, but I will be there, I'm not sure Debbie would go alone anyway and I'm sure you wouldn't want her dragging Franky along.”

After agreeing to meet at 8:30am they said goodbye and hung up. Time was getting on and Bea had nothing to do so decided that she would head to the office for a couple of hours, she was curious to know if the files had been delivered that the other private investigator had said he was sending over, if they had she was sure Franky would already have her head buried in them and she wanted to know what they were going to be dealing with.

———————————————

Melbourne Central had architecture that most most other buildings could only dream of, the ceiling had a glass cone higher than any cathedral over the shot tower and was made of the most beautiful glass. The walkways flow like tributaries to the main rivers of people, not a sharpe angle was to been seen anywhere. It smelt like heaven as the smells of so many food outlets wafted through the air, Debbie and Allie both agreed that they had to visit Pancake Parlour and the Asian Beer Café, although neither of them could decide where they wanted to go first, they had decided to have lunch at the Asian Beer Café. In the background played soothing music, gentle flowing notes that take every shoppers cares away and the floor shines like the surface of a lake at sunrise. In a world that was so chaotic both of them felt that at least they were in a place of order. When they first walked in they had to stop and look around before actually venturing further inside, the whole place seemed to be a sensory overload. Everywhere they looked messages and carefully styled images had been created their only purpose to seduce shoppers, everything either of them could ever want was on display in one outlet or another yet they both knew that there was really very little they actually needed.

“I say we go to the KitKat Chocolatory and create our own KitKat break,” Debbie said with a slightly pleading look on her face.

“You know that sounds like fun, and we could make one for your mum.”

“Shall we go their first or look for something for me to wear tonight?”

“I think maybe we should find you something to wear first, and you need shoes to match. And, um, you need something for the funeral.”

“I can't afford two different outfits, maybe I can find something that will be suitable for both.”

  
“Since I'm not letting you pay you can't argue.”

“Allie I can't let you do that, it's too much.”

“No arguments, you sound just like your mum, she hates me spending money on her….Hey while you're here do you think your mum would like a weekend at the Woodlands Rainforest Retreat?”

“Like it! She would love it, she's always wanted to go there.”

“Good, I mean I know she's mentioned it but, well…I've sort of booked us in next weekend, she took me to the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant a few days ago, I don't know how she manages to do things like that at the last minute.”

“She knows people, goes with the job I guess.”

They spent an hour going from store to store before they both found something they both liked for their evening out, they both loved shopping, loved the perfumed air conditioned shops, both of them basked in the attention the sales staff lavished on them. They tried on different outfits, shoes and hats before going for a manicure, eventually ending up at the KitKat Chocolatory. After being asked which chocolate they preferred from milk, white or dark they were offered the toppings, they had 16 to choose from and could add up to three, they chose their own without much fuss, creating one for Bea had been been a bit of a challenge but between them they agreed on the toppings. They then moved on to create the packaging for their creations, after being told that their bars would be ready to collect within an hour after the chocolatiers had made them to their specifications they decided that they would go for lunch. They arrived before it got too busy and got a table without any fuss.

“Have you ever been here before?”

“Once, the time I came with mum and Franky, we had to wait inline for over an hour because it was later in the day, mum did nothing but complain,” Debbie giggled at the memory.

“She really hates waiting as much as she hates shopping doesn't she?”

Bea really hated everything about shopping, she hated the crowds, the queues and having aching feet. She hated overly attentive shop assistants, the music playing in the background always annoyed her and her biggest hatred was reserved for any special deals that would temp her to spend more than she wanted to.

“Yer she does, she gets so impatient.”

After looking at the menu they decided to order the ‘wings platter’ to share, there was definitely enough for the pair of them the platter consisted of 6 Teriyaki wings, 6 Buffalo wings, 6 Honey Soy wings and 6 BBQ wings served with fries, coleslaw and pickles, since they had worked up quite an appetite they ordered an extra portion of Beer battered fries.

“The last time we were here mum had a pulled pork burger and she couldn't finish it”

“Bet you finished it for her though.”

“Yer, you can't waste food….her eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw the double American cheese burger with bacon that I ordered.”

After finishing their meal they headed straight back to the KitKat Chocolatory to collect their creations before spending another two hours shopping.

———————————————

Bea arrived at the office just before 11am finding Liz reading a magazine,

“Hey Liz, Franky still around?”

“Yes love, she's in her office, wasn't expecting to see you today until later.”

“Allies taken Deb shopping and I haven't got anything to do at home so I thought I'd come in for an hour, did those files arrive?”

“Errr, well yes, think you need to speak to Franky about that she was buried under a bunch of files the last time I checked.”

Bea went to Franky’s office and as Liz had said she did seem a little snowed under, there were files spread out over her desk, some on the floor and a stack of boxes.

“Franky, is this a joke?”

“What, no…that guy has put some real work into this case…..anyway what are you doing here?”

“Oh ya know, nothing to do at home, so come on then tell me what we're up against.”

Franky started by telling her what the original police files had contained, after showing her some of it they both agreed that it wasn't actually the most thorough investigation, only partial house to house enquiries had ever been done, some witnesses who had come forward were never interviewed throughly, parts of the file seemed to be a manipulation of what could have been the truth, or maybe it was just bad decisions made on partial evidence that had thrown the detectives on the case leaving them unable to move forward. It was like being given three pieces of paper with some details written on them but to make sense of it you needed the next three to get to the truth and the next thee had either been misplaced or just left blank. Franky saw how defensive Bea was looking and she knew she needed to try and put her at ease, she hadn't wanted her to see any of the files until Monday but since she turned up while she was trying to read as much as she could she had no choice but to let her look.

“This is only a conversation you know, we aren't working this case yet, your too serious about this right now.”

“Yer but Franky….”

“No buts Red, we can get into this on Monday, make the most of Deb being home, where is she anyway?”

“Out shopping with Allie, they've gone to Melbourne Central.”

“Oh shit, they might not make it back for Will’s grand opening,” Franky laughed.

“They better, I'm not going without them!”

“I was joking, blondie wouldn't miss a chance to go out with ya and ya know it.”

“So what else have you found under this lot?”

“Red….”

“Franky, I just want to know what you've found out, it's better to get a head start, I'll drop it until Monday ok, just give me something.”

“There are some recordings of the news coverage, and the press conference Ryan's parents did.”

“And what did you get from that?”

“Same as you'd expect, it was under reported, half the time the artists impression of the guy they wanted to speak to wasn't shown, but we both know the news is just population control just designed to keep everyone in their place. They don't want to report what people really need to know, what really concerns them, it's just more confusion presented by people who gain their audiences trust.”

“You said the parents did a press conference.”

“They did, it was only ever broadcast once in full, then they just showed snippets, you'd think a missing kid was a high priority but it doesn't  seem to have been the case.”

Bea spent another hour discussing it, Liz had been out and got them all lunch coming back with Boomer in tow.

“Sup bitches?”

“Booms!”

“Sup Franky? Ya ready to party?”

“Booms that's not for hours,” Bea groaned.

“Shit Bea ya never want to let ya hair down and party, I'm gunna have to have words with blondie about ya, think she must be doin’ sumfink wrong.”

“Was there actually anything you wanted Booms?”

“Oh yer…..well I need to know, about tonight, is it come as ya are or do we need to get dressed up, ya know like get me hair an nails done and dress up?”

“I think Will would appreciate us all dressing up a bit Booms, want me to send Allie and Debs over when they get back, if they get back in time?”

“I was gonna ask Maxi but she's busy with some guy she met, I went to yours but obviously no one was there so I came over here, would ya…ya know….would ya help me out Bea, please.”

“You're seriously asking me? I have enough trouble getting myself dressed for nights like this.”

“Yer but Liz said Debs was shopping with blondie and I can't wait that long…..please Bea I need ya.”

“Ok Booms I'll help you….guess I'll see you later Franky.”

“Too right ya will, Gidge even made sure she didn't have to work tonight and that never happens.”

After driving over to Boomer’s Bea managed to come to a compromise with her, they picked out a couple of outfits that she would be happy to go out in then went back to Bea’s to wait on Allie and Debbie getting home, Bea knew Allie and Debbie were much better suited to helping her than she was. Bea was relieved that they didn't have to wait too long when they got home before they returned, even though they were both loaded with bags, she wasn't sure she could have kept Boomer calm for much longer, she always worried that she didn't look good enough when they were going somewhere other than just a girls night out at a bar. She didn't think anyone could worry more about how they looked than Boomer did. Allie and Debbie, once they had taken all their bags upstairs, got straight to work the end result was a fully transformed Boomer who was as giddy as a school girl with her new look.

“How’s this whole grand openin’ thing gonna go blondie, you must know?”

“I don't know the fine details, Will’s invited most of his regulars the staff who aren't working and his friends. As far as I know they'll be drinks in the main bar before a meal in the restaurant.”

“Sounds good, is the restaurant fancy?”

“Booms I don't really know, I've been kept out of it, now as much as I love talking to you I better get ready, and I bet Bea’s stressing right about now just as much as you were.”

———————————————

Arriving at the bar just a little after 6:30pm Will was outside greeting everyone.

“Allie, I was beginning to think you might have changed your mind about coming.”

“Not a chance, but between Booms and Bea I've been a little busy, I'm just glad Debbie could handle getting ready by herself,” she giggled.

“Oi, blondie, took ya long enough ta get ready, we were waitin’ on ya.” Boomer shouted.

“Well ladies better a little late than never, the drinks are on me, and before you ask Boomer that does include shots, but have the meal first before you drink too much my new kitchen staff have been working hard all day.”

“Yer, sure thing Will…..well come on you lot, party time.”

Will couldn't help but laugh, “she'll never change,” he said as he pulled Bea to one side.

“Everything ok? I heard about Harry's mum showing up.”

“It's all good Will, we’re meeting her for breakfast in the morning.”

“Right, well off you go then and enjoy the evening, if looks could kill think I'd be dead by now judging by the look on Allie’s face.”

Half an hour later and everyone who had been invited was there, Will walked behind the bar asking everyone to be quiet for a moment, silence descended over the assembled crowd as Will swallowed hard, it was the first speech he'd given in years and he was now slightly nervous.

“First off all I'd like to say thank you to each of you for coming tonight, you've all stuck by me while the work was being done, to you lot hiding over there in the corner, my regulars, you guys have never complained about the mess and have given me and my staff your constant support through this whole process, I hope you'll keep coming back for a long time. To the rest of you, my staff, my friends and to my girlfriend Rose I thank you all, you worked hard to keep my spirits up on the few occasions things went wrong, you've all been behind me 100%, tonight is really about letting you all have a good time, so eat drink and be merry, but Booms and Franky please not too merry if you don't mind, at least not before you've had your meal.”

  
Everyone laughed and Franky just shrugged her shoulders when Boomer elbowed her in the ribs,

“fink Will knows us too well don't ya Franks?”

“I'm on my best behaviour Booms.”

“Yer right, we'll see later….hope the foods good, I'm starvin’.”

A couple of drinks later Will walked back into the restaurant, returning a few minutes later gathering Rose, Bea, Allie, Shane and the rest together close to the restaurant doors. After a couple of minutes the doors were opened by two smartly dressed waiters and Will told them all to go in and find a seat, before he told his other guests to do the same.

Allie looked around as she entered the restaurant and gasped, Will had not let her see how it had been decorated and she was is awe, Will had commissioned a local design studio to do the interior in a style familiar to Indian architecture, he wanted to create a luxurious feel but it had to be suitable for use at all times of the day. It was a combination of brass, marble and combed pearl lustred walls with Somerset limestone tiles on the floor. The lighting was subdued and only added to the atmosphere. The windows were large, giving a great view out over the outdoor area that wrapped around half of the entire building, the carved oak tables were set with polished silver cutlery that shone brightly in the light and at each place stood a tall empty wine glass and there were beautifully folded napkins. The floor to ceiling French doors that led outside had been left slightly ajar to let in the scented evening air. In the very far corner there were six large brown leather sofas with oval coffee tables made of the same dark oak as the dining tables that had well proportioned cabriole legs, an area Will had said was his favourite part and a great place for the restaurant customers to relax for a while after their meal if they so wished.

Bea, Allie, Debbie and Liz all sat together at one table, Franky, Bridget, Boomer and Maxine sat to one side of their table and Will, Rose, Shane and Linda sat to their other side of their table, the rest of the guests were spread around the room.

“I hope no one is going to mind but we're not doing the full menu tonight.” Will said aloud rather sheepishly as he looked around him at the people he considered his closest friends.

“Will love, I'm sure no one is going to mind, I'm sure for one whatever we have will be delicious,” Liz said with a smile while the others all nodded their heads in agreement.

“We do have an excellent wine list, as well as cocktails, and Bea I'm sure you like me will appreciate the selection of rare whiskies on offer.”

“Sounds very tempting Will, this whole space is exquisite,” Bea said as she took in the whole area.

Not long later the waiters brought out the wine lists and they all settled for whatever Will recommended, Will telling the waiters to bring two bottles for each table. The waiters disappeared from view once again only to return moments later to start serving the starters of Seared scallops with leeks & lemon chilli butter.

“I have to say Will you really are spoiling us,” Bridget said.

“I just want tonight to be perfect for everyone, and actually the menu was Rose’s idea, she's been working with the head chef for the last few days to pull together tonight's meal.”

“Didn't think this looked like it was your idea,” Franky chuckled as she began to eat.

“Oh so because I own a bar you think I can't appreciate good food is that it Franky?”

“Well you said that not me.”

The main course was also a hit, Steak served with roasted dijon potatoes and brussel sprout hash with crispy sage and walnuts. Boomer ate her main as if food was suddenly going out of fashion, she polished off hers in a matter of minutes before she enquired rather loudly what was for dessert before anyone else had even half eaten their meal.

“Booms hun, I'm sure you can hold on for dessert just a little longer,” Maxine said glancing at her now empty plate.

“Well can you lot eat, the grubs great but it's taking up good drinkin’ time and I wanna get me drink on.”

The three tables erupted into fits of laughter.

“Booms, we all love ya but ya got plenty of time to drink,” Franky laughed.

  
When the desserts were finally served Boomer looked down at hers, a look of childlike wonder on her face, not wanting to seem thick she didn't want to ask what it was but Rose instantly saw her struggle,

“Tuck in Boomer, its elderflower panna cotta with strawberries and brown butter crumble it really is delicious.”

“Yer, I thought it wa sumthin’ like that, looks great.”

After their meals were finished they all hung back in the restaurant for a while while Will went through to the bar to check that everything was ready, the DJ was set up, the bar staff were ready. Will had a word with each of them, thanking them all for working and telling them that as much as he would have loved them all to be partying the night away it just wasn't possible for them all to have the night off, eventually telling them that they were all getting a bonus, before he returned to the restaurant to let everyone know that it was a free bar and for them all to enjoy the rest of the night.

Boomer was the first to the bar as everyone expected ordering beers and shots for her friends, as they all walked over to Boomer she spotted Bridget.

“Oh, err, shit….i forgot ya don't drink beer, I'll get ya a wine, what do ya want, red or white?”

“Boomer is quite alright, it's the thought that counts, I can get my own drink, honestly, just have a good time.”

“Yer, ya sure?….i mean I don't mind an all.”

“It's fine Boomer.”

“Oh yer Liz, I ordered ya one of them mocktail things, so I got ya a….what was it? Oh yer a nijito, this guy, pointing at the bartender, says it's just like a mojito, all the flavour but none of the rum.”

Boomer handed out the drinks then knocked two shots back before anyone could even think about drinking there's. The drinks were flowing, the regulars found themselves at home in the newly renovated main bar, some milled about close to the bar, mainly the younger ones while the older regulars found themselves a seat as they watched on.

Boomer and Franky had already headed to the smaller bar area where the DJ was, followed not long later by Debbie, Shane and Allie while Bea chatted with Bridget, Liz and Maxine.

“I hear from a little bird you've met someone Maxi,” Bea said shooting her an inquisitive glance.

“You heard right, but I doubt the bird that let that cat of the bag was little,” the four of them laughed.

Of course Maxine knew it wasn't going to stay a secret for long as soon as she had told Boomer. In the back bar area the music was loud, so loud that it could make your skin tingle and your lungs feel like mush. The bass thumped in time with the dancers heartbeats as though they were one, filling them from head to toe with music. Over the roar of the music they could make out the distant, hazy chatter that came from the main bar, it was impossible to make out any words, but they could hear laughter and lots of it. The song that was playing got louder after Boomer gestured for the DJ to turn it up, Boomer, Franky, Debbie, Allie and Shane couldn't help but dance, all huddled together in a group jumping around like tic-tacs being shaken up inside their box.

A little later the music slowed down and Boomer retreated to the bar to get more drinks, Franky dragged Bridget onto the dance floor with her and Allie went back to stand by Bea's side, taking her hand in hers Bea looked at her, seeing the pleading look on her face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Bea enquired.

“Dance with me,” Allie whispered in her ear.

“Allie…..I can't, I don't dance….I don't know how.”

“Then it's time you learnt, come on.”

Bea put her beer on the bar and allowed Allie to pull her towards the dance floor, she was uncomfortable but she liked the idea of being close to Allie, Allie pulled her close, wrapping her arms round her waist as Bea’s arms went round Allies shoulders,

“Just follow my lead, you'll be fine,” She again whispered to her.

In no time at all they were dancing close and it wasn't apparent given Beas former protests that she couldn't dance. The lights were flashing around them, the slow music played and they didn't see anyone but each other, it was like dancing on the Northern Lights, beneath the smoke swirled around them an array of blue, green, pink and gold lights. As the music continued to play it felt as if their bodies had fused. Looking at each other they were smiling like idiots, neither of them cared, they were just happy, Bea felt more alive than ever before, she felt like she could let go, let a part of her do the things she'd always wanted to do but never got the chance, she knew Allie brought out the best in her, between Allie and the vibe of the music she felt as though she could let her body go free for a while. It was all one brilliant feeling of togetherness, a feeling she wished she could suspend in time.

When the music changed they went back to the bar, Bea no longer knew which bottle on the bar was hers so just ordered them both another and they retreated outside to sit and cool off for a while.

“Thought you said you couldn't dance?”

“I can't, I mean…well….I've never really danced before, maybe once or twice a long time ago.”

“Well I reckon you're a natural babe,” Allie said as she sat on her lap.

“I just think it's because of you, you light up my life Allie. For so long I was resigned to spending the rest of my life in the dark, living under a dense sheet of cloud and when you're around it doesn't matter, I don't think about it as much. I have a ray of god given sunshine in my life. You're that sunshine, you're radiant.”

A while later they finished their drinks and headed back to the bar just in time to say goodnight to Liz and Maxine.

“Bea hun, we need a catch up, and I know you've got a new case, I've found someone who I think would be perfect for the salon but I need your input.”

“I'm busy in the morning, how about you come over for dinner before Debbie flies back to Sydney and we can talk about it then?”

“Sounds perfect, what time?”

“Debs flight isn't until 8:30pm, so….5:30pm, have dinner a little early?”

“I'll be there, see you both tomorrow.”

Liz said she'd see Bea on Monday and they both left. Not long later Allie yawned.

“You ready to go?”

  
“I think I am, do you mind?”

“No, let's just let Deb know we're leaving and then we can go.”

After finally spotting Debbie dancing with Boomer and Shane Bea told her they were going home, checking that she had enough money to get a taxi home they left after telling her not to let Boomer be a bad influence."

Once home they headed straight to bed, almost falling into it and cuddling up once they got freshened up and changed.

“You know we're meeting Margaret in the morning for breakfast?”

“Hmm, I remember something along those lines,” Allie answered after yawning.

“She asked if you would come with us.”

“What….she wants me to be there, I don't know babe, she might hate me.”

“If she was going to hate anyone it would be me, it was because of me her son went to prison.”

“Cut that out, it was all on him and I think she knows that. You want me there?”

“I do, and I think Deb would be happier if you were there as well.”

“Alright then, I'll do it but only because you asked me so nicely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe I can get another chapter written before the end of the week. Thanks for all your comments, I know I've only just started replying again after taking a break, but I have always read them all.


	88. Chapter 88

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Debbie meets her grandmother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must be getting my imagination back, another chapter finished!

Boomer wrapped herself in the blanket she found barely covering her legs, waves of nausea washing over her only adding to the misery she was experiencing. She heard her phone ping indicating a text message but couldn't even be bothered to move, her brain felt as it were about to swell well beyond the capacity of her skull and the realisation that she was very dehydrated started becoming too obvious to keep ignoring it. She needed water and perhaps some painkillers, she raised her heavy eyelids halfway only for them to fall shut again. Opening her eyes again she looked around the dimly lit room trying to focus on what she was seeing right in front of her, ‘where the fuck am I?’ She thought to herself as her eyes once more fell shut.

Bea opened her eyes finding her favourite pair of blue eyes looking back at her, those eyes that were like the stars, always drawing her back, the black of her pupils surrounded by a jagged silver fire that was swallowed by sapphire blue.

“What are you staring at?”

“Since you're the only other person here I think it must be obvious.”

Staring wasn't quite the right word for what Allie did, although if anyone else saw her they would most likely think she fit the dictionary definition perfectly. Her eyes resting on Bea, not completely unblinking, the effect was always soft and inviting and not harsh like you expect when someone stairs at something.

“I'm glad I'm not Boomer this morning.” Bea said as she smiled.

“Her head will be killing her, you think she's awake yet?”

“Who knows it's Booms, if she was though I'm sure we'd have heard her crashing around by now.”

“I can't believe Debbie managed to get her here by herself.”

“Me either, but I didn't appreciate being woken up when they got in.”

“That part I could have done without to,” Allie giggled.

“Come on then we better get up, I'll go wake Debs then make coffee.”

“But it's Sunday,” Allie wined.

Slowly Bea got out of bed, letting her feet hit the floor before she stretched, after standing up she turned and looked back at Allie who was still laying in the same place, reaching for the blankets she pulled them off Allie before quickly leaving the room. Going to Debbie's room first finding her already awake but still in bed. Reaching the living room she found Boomer still stretched out on the sofa where she had thrown herself when her and Debbie had arrived home.

“You awake yet Booms?”

“Huh….Bea…how did I end up here, or am I dreamin’?”

“No Booms your not dreaming, you don't remember coming home with Deb’s do you?”

“Na, fuck…..don't even remember leavin’ the bar.”

  
Opening her eyes again she knew she had to move and swung her bare feet to the floor, it was cold and sticky under one foot, ‘what the fuck,’ she mumbled to herself looking down to the floor through bleary eyes spotting the open pizza box containing a half eaten pizza under her foot. The aching in her head told her that she really had drunk too much the night before. The term hungover made sense to her right now, it felt like the blackest cloud was indeed hanging over her head and she knew that wasn't going to clear until late in the afternoon.

“Errr, Bea can ya come here a sec?”

Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and a couple of pain killers from the cupboard she returned to the living room bursting out laughing when she saw Boomer with her foot in the air and the pizza box in one hand.

“Fuckin’ hell Bea it's ain't funny.”

Bea placed the the bottle of water and pain killers down on the coffee table.

“I'm sorry Booms, but it is, it's hilarious, let me get you a cloth to clean yourself up with and let me get rid of that box for you.”

———————————————

Boomer had said she wanted to go home, Bea had told her that she could use the spare room and get some more sleep while they were out but she said she'd rather head home. Dropping her off before they headed to the diner Bea asked her if she wanted to go over for dinner later, she hadn't really kept in touch with Maxine or Boomer recently and she felt a little guilty. Boomer was more than happy to accept, she missed spending time with her friends, she knew Bea had been busy recently so wasn't going to say no as soon as she was asked. Allie said she would go over and pick her up around five, Boomer had said she would be fine getting a taxi but Allie wouldn't budge, insisting that it wasn't a problem.

Debbie was quiet on the remainder of the trip over to the diner, she had gotten lost in constructing scenarios for their impending breakfast meeting that lay ahead, when the diner came into view suddenly all the preparations she had been doing in her head fled like a scared child, her brain felt like it was full of static, reminding her of an old TV set that had lost it's signal. Part of her wanted to tell her mum to stop and just turn around, but she needed to do it, needed to be able to ask questions that she needed answers for, she just hoped that she could get her words out. There was nothing slick or really inviting about the diner, there were no fancy fonts on the sign or etching on the windows like some of them that Debbie frequented when she was at home. She was sure that if someone could pick it up and send it back in time 30 or 40 years it really wouldn't look out of place. When Bea parked and was ready to get out she first turned to look at Debbie,

“It will be alright Deb, if you feel really uncomfortable we can leave straight away.”

“I know mum, but I need to meet her face to face, I need to do it before the funeral.”

  
The three of them got out of the car and made their way inside, the diner was almost empty, not unusual for that time on a Sunday morning, Bea’s eyes landed on Margaret the instant they walked through the door, looking to her side at Debbie she had to admit she was slightly worried, not about Debbie's reaction to coming face to face with a woman she couldn't really remember but worried about what Debbie might say, she was like Bea, if she felt threatened in anyway the gloves would come off and she'd come out fighting and if Margaret said anything to Debbie that Bea didn't like the outcome could be Allie having to drag them both out of the diner.

“Is that her?” Debbie asked as she spotted an older woman sitting alone near the window.

“Yes Deb, if you've changed your mind we can leave.”

“No, it's fine, I've come this far.”

Making their way over to where Margaret was sitting Debbie could feel the fear traveling through her entire body but it never registered on her face, she looked calm as her gaze remained on her grandmother, coming to a halt as soon as she reached the table she let out an understated sight. Margaret stood from her seated position her eyes firmly fixed on the granddaughter she thought she would never see again, a sweet, genuine smile lit up her face and Debbie suddenly felt more at ease than she had all morning.

“Oh my, Debbie I can't believe that you are really here, please sit….do you all want coffee? Are you hungry?”

Taking a seat across from her grandmother, Allie at her side, Bea sitting next to Margaret,

“Actually I'm starving,” Debbie said with a grin.

“Well we can't have that, order whatever you like, my treat, and I mean all three of you not just Debbie.”

Debbie already knew what she was going to order, the reason she loved this diner so much was their full English breakfast, it was huge but she could always make light work of polishing it off. The air was thick with the the scent of freshly brewed coffee and the smell of food being cooked Debbie could only liken it to how a serenade must sound to the ears of a musician…heavenly. The waitress appeared soon after, she quickly took their orders and left, returning soon after with coffee and assuring them their order would not be long.

None of them spoke for a while, Debbie sat looking at the older woman in front of her, she wasn't sure what she had been expecting, maybe after Bea had told her what her grandfather had been like she was actually half expecting an old woman, the kind you would feel pity for, all old bones and feeble limbs, a broken down woman who in her own way had suffered at the he hands of a man, but that wasn't what was looking back at her, the woman in front of her looked like she could handle anything that was thrown at her, she smiled a little to herself imagining her running a kitchen with military precision if she was given half a chance. Her short grey hair was neat, her face made up with light makeup and against her sun kissed face it looked right. Margaret extended her arm across the table, patting Debbie softly on the hand, Debbie couldn't help but notice the traces of soil beneath her finger nails, ‘a gardener, definitely a gardener,’ she thought to herself.

“I really am so very pleased you're here Debbie.”

Margaret's eyes wondered over to Allie who just smiled at her a little nervously before her eyes fell towards the table.

“And you must be Allie, I hear from a reliable source that you managed to somehow sweep Bea off her feet.”

Debbie giggled, “you wouldn't have said that if you'd have seen how nervous mum used to be around her.”

“Well there is nothing wrong with that, now tell me Debbie how is university? Franky tells me that you're doing really well, it's law you're studying isn't it?”

Debbie recounted her life at uni, not leaving anything out, telling the funny stories about her friends that Bea and Allie had heard countless times, telling her about her course and how hard at times it was but she was doing well. Their food arrived as Debbie was mid sentence and she trailed off the second the plate was sitting in front of her on the table. Naturally she was the first to finish her food, pushing the plate away from her she looked around,

“What?”

“Deb you're meant to eat not inhale your food.”

“Mum really, all I had was coffee before we left the house, I was starving, it's not my fault you're all slow eaters.”

“Hey take that back, I'm no slow eater,” Allie giggled at her.

  
“I know you must have many questions that you want to ask me Debbie, and I know I can't make up for not being strong enough to make sure I was in your life while you were growing up, but I'd like to try if you feel able to give me a chance.”

“I wouldn't be here now if I wasn't going to give you a chance, it took a lot of thinking about, my first thoughts were to tell mum to tell you to go to hell, but I came to the conclusion that that was hardly fair, especially since mum had already spoken with you.”

“Are you still going to your d…Harry's funeral.”

“I am, Allie is going with me, you don't have a problem with that do you?”

“Of course not, you're probably wondering why it's taken so long to arrange.”

“Not really, makes sense that it's taken time for his body to be released, I'm not going to lie to you, I'm not upset he's gone. The truth is I'm only going to the funeral to make sure he's really gone. Have you seen him, his body I mean?”

“I have, it wasn't pretty, but after everything he's done he has no one to blame but himself, he was my son and I loved him, I also hated him because of the things he did.”

Silence descended amongst them, Margaret thought back to how her life had brought her to where she was now, as a teenager everything about her radiated with confidence, then she met George, by 25 she was a wife and a mother, she had become a robot, her days revolved around waking up, driving, cleaning the house, keeping the peace, eating and sleeping, a routine that she had allowed to let continue for more years than she wanted to think about. No one recognised her achievements, they were never anything spectacular, George viewed anything she ever did as being trivial. Now both her husband and son were gone, she had no one around her, she has a few friends but they aren't family and more than anything that was what she wanted.

“Was my grandfather always a nasty piece of work?”

“No, not always, he was quite sweet when we first met, although I suspect he just hid who he really was. And he wasn't always hard on Harry, I have one memory of him that I cling onto, it's the most perfect memory I have of the two of them together, it's how things should have always been, could have been if George hadn't taken to drinking so much. They were out on the back garden, George had just finished mowing the lawn and Harry was sitting watching him, George walked over to him and asked him if he wanted an aeroplane ride, he was four at the time so of course he did. Within moments he had him by his left wrist and ankle and he spun him round, holding onto him tightly, Harry was laughing so much, its how I hoped it would always be, but that didn't last.”

“So Harry just turned into his dad in the end?”

“Unfortunately he did learn all his fathers traits, and a lot more besides. With George his violence was mainly always in his words, well when it was directed against me, George knew every vulnerability I had and he was skilled in knowing where to put the pressure. He left me with some of the worst memories, he made me feel abandoned, I wanted to leave, wanted to climb higher but he knew just how to knock me down once more, he criticised everything I ever did, eventually I had nothing left to prop up my shallow self esteem. It was how he kept control, he kept me completely submissive and fearful. He would stay calm for a few days after he'd had a rant, but as Harry grew older he would explode, he beat him for the slightest thing and I couldn't protect him, I was too weak, Harry soon became worse than his father, he would fight with anyone and it seemed he needed to fight often, as if he craved it. I've heard it said that we recreate our childhoods, seek out the dysfunction that we tried so hard to escape, I guess I should have known what would happen. I should have told your mum but I couldn't.”

Debbie's head was in a spin after hearing that admission, she didn't know what to say. Bea spoke to Margaret for a while before saying that they really had to leave as Sunday was the only day they had time to get everything done. Debbie said that she would be back home ready for the funeral on Thursday afternoon and they left.

———————————————

Debbie hadn't wanted to go to the supermarket saying that she was going to walk over to see Liz, Bea said she would be happy to drop her off but she had just said she needed sometime to think about the things she's heard.

“You think she's going to be ok babe?”

“I hope so, Liz will listen to her if she needs to talk, she's a great listener, and she's always given the best advice.”

“Shall we give the supermarket a miss….go to a market instead?”

“Anything is better than the supermarket, want to go to Queen Victoria Market?”

“Sounds good, have you decided what we're going to make for dinner?”

“Honestly I hadn't given it much thought, let's decide when we get to the market yer?”

Bea really did hate the supermarket, it was always so impersonal and cold, a place where underpaid workers served you without a smile and she could easily get sucked into buying over processed junk food that she really didn't need or want. The market was a place she actually had never minded going, there was a time when she would go every Sunday, a time when Franky would tag along so she didn't have to go alone, sometimes Liz would go with her but after Franky met Bridget they had both agreed that it would be something that they would do once in a while and she didn't want to disturb Liz every Sunday. She had missed her shopping trips, missed the vibrancy of the surroundings, the aromas and the whole atmosphere, she knew a lot of the stall holders and they knew her by name, they were always so bubbly and friendly and even when they were busy would always find a minute or two to chat. It was a little busier than she was used to because of going to the diner but she was fine with it, they weaved through the people stopping at stalls to buy what they needed the whole time arm in arm. At one point they had had to go back to the car to drop off the ever increasing number of bags they had started to accumulate. Allie had to admit that it was so much better than the supermarket, the air was perfumed with smells of the different produce for sale, nose tingling aromas came from the different spices on offer from Gewürzhaus Herb and Spice Merchants, the sweet smell of flowers coming from Joe Leuzzi Flowers, there was no irritating music, it felt so alive, truer to real life. Every smell that hung in the air gave the market a unique scent.

Arriving home Debbie came racing out of the house,

“What took so long? Thought you were going to the supermarket!”

“Change of plan Deb, we went to the market instead, you seem happier.”

“I am, Liz helped me work through a few things, and she said she will go with me and Allie to the funeral, as long as it's alright with you.”

“Why wouldn't it be? I'm glad you'll have them both with you….now is there any chance you're going to help us with the bags?”

After the three of them had taken everything into the kitchen Debbie and Allie put everything away while Bea got on with some of the other Sunday chores that needed doing.

“Crap!” Allie exclaimed.

  
Bea was in the living room and heard her, wondering what was wrong she rushed into the kitchen.

“What's wrong?”

“We forgot to get the wine.”

“That's it?”

“Well yes, what did you think it was?”

“I don't know, you want me to go and pick some up?”

“No it's alright I’ll go, then I'll make a start on dinner when I get back.”

Bea went back to what she was doing aware that they had probably spent a little longer at the market than they really should have, but it had been good to go somewhere different and she hoped they would go more often. Debbie decided that she was going with Allie to get the wine. After spending ten minutes deciding which they should get they headed home.

“You don't mind that I ask Liz to come with us do you?”

“Why would you even think I would? I like Liz, she helped me get the job at the bar and she's always been really good to me and I know she'll always be there for you and your mum.”

Once back at home Debbie made herself useful by setting the table in the dining room before she went for a shower. Stepping into the shower she welcomed the warm water as it cascaded over her, the water always made her feel better, more peaceful, and it had been a slightly tough day until that point. She was glad that she had met Margaret and found some answers to her questions, she wondered if she would see her again after the funeral, she wasn't certain if it was a good idea, but she had been honest with her, or at least it sounded like the truth. Deciding she would wait until after the funeral and see how things went from there, she had other things that she needed to worry about when she returned to uni later that day.

Allie had started preparing their meal, they had decided on lasagna after a little debate, Bea had said that Maxine and Boomer always enjoyed that and it was one of Debbie's favourites, it had been a no brainier really, not difficult to prepare or cook. Bea walked into the kitchen going straight to the fridge to get a bottle of water.

“Need any help?”

“You can always make the salad, Debbie's already set the table.”

———————————————

  
Gazing straight ahead and singing along to a song on the radio that she loved and tapping her fingers on the steering wheel, Allie was only half aware of the world passing her by outside the confines of her car. In no time at all she found herself pulling up outside Boomers, getting out of the car she walked up the path, stopping as she reached the door and knocking gently, allowing a few moments to pass before she knocked again, a little louder, this time hearing movement coming from somewhere close by in the house. The door flew open and Boomer smiled brightly at her,

“Jus’ come in for a minute will ya?”

“How are ya feeling Booms?” Allie asked as she followed her into the living room.

“Not so bad….should learn not to drink so much.”

“Ya never gonna change Booms, and no one would want ya to.”

Arriving back at the house a short while later they found that Maxine had already arrived and was chatting with Debbie while Bea was in the kitchen putting the finishing touches to their meal, Allie excused herself to the go and help her.

“Need a hand?”

“You want to open the wine? Think I have everything else covered.”

They assembled themselves in the dining room, Boomer asking for water as she didn't think it was a good idea to drink even though Bea had offered her a beer. Bea looked around her as they all sat eating and chatting quite happily, she had missed having Maxine over, it had been something they used to do quite a lot and if she was honest with herself she missed her. Maxine could and would be brutally honest with her, something that could test some friendships, but Bea appreciated it. She always knew where she stood with Maxine. On the flip side of that she was generous to a fault, Maxine like Bea didn't have many friends, her loyalty to those who she considered a friend was fierce, Maxine would be a friend for life she had no doubt about that. Watching Debbie, Allie and Boomer laughing their heads off at something Boomer had just said made her realize that Boomer was just as important to her, she'd always stuck up for Bea in front of other people, like Maxine she was also fiercely loyal. She'd seen her at her best and at her worst, sometimes Boomer would just loose her temper and act like a right prat and then Bea would stick up for her in return. Finishing their meal Debbie and Allie did the dishes giving Bea a chance to talk to Maxine about the salon, no matter what Maxine valued her opinion, especially now it came to employing someone new. Her and Boomer had been struggling along somehow, mainly because they hadn't been able to find anyone even slightly suitable. Bea agreed to go over to the salon on Tuesday afternoon, it could be the only time she'd have free with their upcoming case. Not long later Maxine and Boomer left, it was almost time to take Debbie back to the airport for her return flight to Sydney, Bea knew she was going to miss her because she always did but she would be back on Wednesday evening, Debbie had already said that even if they refused to help her out at uni she would be back, but she doubted it would be a problem, as much as she no longer wanted to call Harry her dad throwing that title into the conversation she planned on having the next day should help her out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to keep writing at the same pace next week, well I can but try.


	89. Chapter 89

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's funeral amongst other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was slightly pre occupied with feeling slightly crap yesterday, (slightly is actually an understatement) but I've sat down and caught up with myself today.

Tuesday lunch time arrived and Bea left the office heading to the deli to pick up lunch for herself, Maxine and Boomer having first called the salon to ask what they both wanted. When she arrived at the salon Boomer was in the back making coffee and Maxine was just finishing with a client.

“Hey Maxi, been busy?”

“Thankfully it's been quiet today.”

Bea took a seat on the sofa in front of the window, moving some of the magazines to one side that were fanned out on the coffee table, placing the bags down she looked around her old place of employment, it had hardly changed at all since she left and even now sometimes she did miss it, but not that often, being a hairdresser had really only been a means to an end, and as much as some of the cases they took on bothered her it was more challenging, more mentally stimulating and she enjoyed it, sometimes working along side Franky was slightly frustrating but they got on well, even when Franky was taking the piss out of her and trying to embarrass her. Maxine finished with her client and went to sit next to Bea.

“Did Deb get back to Sydney ok?”

“Yer, she called not long after she landed, and she'll be back on Wednesday evening, she spoke to someone at uni and they've been understanding about her needing the time off.”

“Well he was her dad after all.”

“Don't let Deb hear you say that.”

“Got it, I'll just call him Harry, although I can think of a few other choice names that suit him much better.”

“You and me both,” Bea laughed.

Boomer appeared at the door a mug in each hand,

“Made ya a coffee Bea….hope this new girls gonna work out, what times she comin’ in Maxi?”

“Booms I've told you twice already today she’ll be in at 1pm.”

Boomer put the drinks down on the coffee table and went back to get her own before sitting down. They sat eating and chatting mainly about the number of applications they had for the job, most were from people with little experience, and as much as Maxine would have been willing to give someone the extra time they needed to settle in under normal circumstances since Doreen had already left they needed someone who had experience and who wouldn't need a great deal of supervision. Maxine explained to Bea that the woman who they were interviewing was actually staying at the women's shelter where Kaz worked, she had seen the advertisement and taken her CV into the salon personally, that had given Maxine a chance to have an informal chat with her.

“She seems very keen to work and she has worked in a salon before, unfortunately her previous partner was into drugs and she followed suit, she has been through rehab, I think she'll be a good fit and we don't judge people by their past actions do we Bea?”

“No Maxi and we never will, I know for sure that I would never take past mistakes on face value, we both know that I would still have been a miserable sod if I did,” Bea said laughing, Maxine joining in.

“Ahh hun, that's true, you wouldn't be with Allie now, I think she's the second best thing that ever happened to you.”

Just before one Boomer cleaned their lunch things away before getting ready for her client that she had scheduled. They planned to do a quick interview in the office before Boomer had agreed to let her work on her hair. Tuesdays were always quiet and Boomers client was the last for the day. Boomer had just started cutting her clients hair when the door opened. Maxine got up from her seat greeting the woman.

“I'm glad you could come in today Kim, this is Bea, we’ll be doing your interview together.”

The woman, now known to Bea as Kim was dressed pretty casually in jeans and a jacket, but given her situation she hadn't expected her to dressed any other way. She wore a minimal amount of make up and her long black hair was pulled back in a pony tail. Bea got up extending her hand to her,

“Hi, pleased to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, I'm Kim, Kim Chang.”

Thirty minutes later the interview was complete and Maxine asked Kim if she would wait out in the salon for a while. The interview had gone better than Bea had expected, Kim gave articulate answers to every question she was asked and seemed quite relaxed and happy.

“What do you think Bea?”

“She does seems pleasant, quite confident, let's see how she goes styling Boomers hair though, if she can deal with Booms I reckon she'll be fine, I say you give her a trial then if things don't work out or she's not up to it you can let her go easily.”

“You do have a good point, you think a months trial is fair?”

“Sounds very fair, and it'll give you time to really get to know her, if she's able to handle Booms I reckon she should work out.”

They left the office, Maxine speaking to Kim briefly before Boomer sat down letting her cut and style her hair.

"Are you happy with what Kim's done then Booms?" Bea asked.

"yer, I suppose, looks better I guess."

Maxine had another word with Kim telling her what they had decided and asking her if she was available to start the next day. Kim was really happy and assured them that she would be there the next morning before she left.

"Come on then Booms what do you really think?" Maxine asked.

"She'll be ok, but she better not take the piss and eat all the biscuits or I'll go bunta on her arse."

Maxine and Bea could help themselves and burst out laughing.

———————————————

The next morning Bea and Franky were waiting for the private investigator to show up, sitting in Beas office they were discussing what Franky had found, and more importantly what was missing from the files. They both had a lot of questions they needed to ask, he may have been thorough with some of his work but there were things they both thought he had either overlooked or just didn't bother to follow up, if was that that made Bea uneasy. Glancing at the time Franky shook her head,

“He's late!”

“Yer, great start, you really think that it's worth us working on this?”

“It's worth a shot, keeps the pennies rolling in Red, and we may at least be able to give the kids parents some closure if nothing else.”

“Hmmm, maybe….but what if….”

Bea was interrupted by Liz knocking on her door.

“Bea love, Greg Taylor is here, should I send him in?

“Guess you better…..could you bring us some coffee in Liz?”

  
“No problem love, I won't be long.”

  
The man that entered Beas office was younger than she was expecting, maybe 35 or so, but he walked with a cane. His right leg moved with all the fluidity that you'd expect of someone his age but his left was stiff and seemed to drag a little, Bea had the sudden thought that she had seen 70 year olds walk better than he did. Glancing at his face she noticed that it was very symmetrical with brown eyes and tanned skin.

Franky stood up from the chair she was sitting in and turned round to greet him.

“Hi, I'm Franky, pleased to meet you….take a seat.”

“Pleased to meet you Franky,” he said as he looked over at Bea who was looking at the door waiting for Liz to come back.

After Liz brought coffee they started discussing how they could be of help.

“Have you not had a forensic artist age a photograph of Ryan? I mean if he is still out there it may be of help,” Bea asked slightly annoyed, even though he had done quite a lot of work some simple things were missing.

“To be honest I never thought of it, I guess after 6 years my head tells me that there isn't much chance of him being alive.”

“I would have thought you would have been trying everything in your power to find him though, you did say his parents needed to know the truth, alive or dead were your words Mr Taylor.”

“You are quite right, and please call me Greg. Do you know of anyone that could undertake that?”

“Not personally, but a friend of ours is a retired cop, pretty certain he will know someone.”

After 4 hours they drew their first meeting to a close,

“Ya know Red he's not been as thorough as I fist thought he was.”

“That's an understatement Franky, he didn't bother to trace a couple of the neighbours who moved away, I know it's been quite some time but they were the ones who the police never interviewed, looks to me as if he's as slack as the police.”

Between them they came up with a list of the most important things to do.

“Guess I should fly over to Sydney next Monday.”

“What? Na Red I'll go.”

“Thought Bridget had a few days off next week?”

Franky needed to think fast, Allie had sworn her to secrecy about their weekend away, of course Allie had checked in with Franky before making the booking, she hadn't wanted to be taking Bea away from anything important, she had planned on asking Liz but the day she called only Franky had been in the office.

“Oh yer, she does…..not until Wednesday though….come on Red, I can go over to Sydney for a couple of days, reinterview the neighbours that still live in the area, David said he'd help with tracing the people that we need to find, and Linda has already given me the name of someone in Sydney who's willing to help.”

“Seems you have it all planned, what am I meant to be doing?”

“Shit Red, we need to get the kids picture aged, ya know I hate that kind of shit, Imonly ever worked with a forensic artist once and that went tits up, and I thought you'd rather be home with blondie.”

“Ok, you win, but you stay in touch, everything you find out you let me know straight away.”

“Jesus Red, ya sound like ya don't trust me.”

“It's not that at all, I just don't want to be sitting around doing nothing.”

“Ya won't be, and you'll have David to keep ya company, maybe he could give ya a few lessons on tracing people,” Franky laughed as she was leaving her office.

Getting just outside her office door she turned round looking back at Bea, “don't ya have to go pick Debbie up?”

“Shit, what time is it?”

“Time ya got your arse out of here.”

———————————————

Since Debbie had been told that Harry was dead insomnia had become something that just wouldn't quit and Debbie was exhausted. Time didn't pass in the same way, she had way too much time now, more quiet moments than we're useful, she really wanted to sleep, to sink into a dream filled peaceful oblivion. After another night haunted by sleeplessness she knew her day was going to be ruled by fatigue, that was not going to help, today was Harry's funeral, she needed to feel lucid and clear but her brain was begging for unconsciousness, to sleep no matter if she missed the funeral. Laying in her bed in the darkness she couldn't control what went on in her head, her brain constructed endless possibilities, new disasters and dangerous situations, the main one always being that Harry would appear at his own funeral quite alive, laughing at everyone, that he had proved he was so much smarter than anyone. Finally falling asleep she woke up after a couple of hours wide awake as if she had been asleep the whole night, and even though it was still dark it was now Thursday morning. She rolled over closing her eyes and willing herself to doze off but she couldn't. Opening her eyes again she knew she had only two choices, she could either stay where she was, watching as the sun rose slowly lighting her room or she could get up. She eventually decided on the latter, getting out of bed she grabbed her laptop and headed downstairs, curling up on the sofa determined that if she really had to be awake instead of worrying about what she had no control over she may as well try to get the essay finished that she needed to hand in on Monday.

Allie wondered downstairs surprised to find Debbie on the sofa staring at her laptop.

“Everything ok Deb, how long have you been up?”

“Oh, morning Allie, couldn't sleep so I thought I'd try finishing an essay.”

“You worrying about the funeral?”

“A little, it's stupid, I keep thinking that this is all going to turn out to be some sick joke and that he's going to turn up alive and well.”

“You don't believe Margaret?”

“I want to, I mean she said she saw his body but what if he was so badly beaten that she had no way of recognising if it was him or someone else?”

“I wish I could give you an answer that would make you feel better, remember though you won't be alone, I'll be with you and so will Liz, I do have to go to work for a hour or so but I'll be back before you know it.”

“Could I go with you? I don't want to be on my own this morning?”

“I don't see why not….you want some breakfast?”

“Yer, I'm starving,” Debbie giggled and Allie joined in.

Debbie followed Allie to the kitchen, sitting herself at the table, she wasn't sure what to expect, she knew that the funeral was taking place at Springvale Botanical cemetery, everything all in one place, the service would be held in the onsite chapel, he was to be buried next to his dad and then there would be a wake held in one of the onsite function rooms.

Bea wondered into the kitchen just as Allie was handing Debbie a coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs.

“Your up early Deb, the funerals not until 1pm, you having trouble sleeping sweetheart?”

“Yer mum, just a little, but I did some work on an essay I need to finish so it's all good.”

They ate breakfast together in near silence until Bea ushered them both off to get showered. Part of her wished she had said she would go to the funeral for Debbie's sake, but she knew she wasn't going to be alone and really she needed to get some work done. Bea looked puzzled when Debbie was ready to go out,

“Where are you going?”

“I asked Allie if I could go to the bar with her, she said it was ok.”

“Are you sure you're alright Deb?”

“Mum I'll be fine, guess I'm just a little nervous.”

When Allie appeared Bea pulled her into the living room,

“Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For taking care of Deb.”

“You don't have to thank me for that, I'm here for both of you. And as much as I really hate to run off so fast I have to because I need to get this weeks order done.”

Placing a soft kiss on Beas lips she called to Debbie letting her know that she was ready to go.

———————————————

Pulling up at the cemetery the three of them got out of Allies car and made their way over to the chapel, there were a few other people who had already arrived and Debbie recognised a couple of them as Harry's old workmates. The sun shone brilliantly, the day was warm under its glare, for a day that they were going to bury a man that was most of the time nothing more than a monster Debbie thought that it was way too offensively bright and cheerful, ‘all this beauty for a monster of a man that's dead,’ she thought to herself. She couldn't help but think, as they walked closer to the chapel, that it should be a grey foggy day, something that could mirror her emotions, it should be cold, damp and silent for a man like Harry. But the sun still shone, the birds still sang and the flowers still bloomed. Continuing their journey she felt like a silhouette of herself, wishing she could blend into the shadows so that she could go unnoticed by everyone who would be there.

It was a traditional funeral, that was how Margaret wanted it, all black clothing and ashen faces, some of the guests already sporting red puffy eyes, Debbie wanted to tell them all what Harry really was, as if doing that would make a difference, but she wished that they could all know the man beneath his fake smiles and laughter, the man that would happily buy another round in the pub who then went home to terrorise his family, they'd all want to happily kick dirt onto his coffin as it was lowered into the ground. More guests began arriving, Debbie stood close to Allie, she recognised a few more people but didn't want to speak to any of them, didn't want their condolences, she didn't care what memories they had of him, they weren't who he really was, not one of those people really knew him. As the hearse came into view followed by two limousines Debbie swallowed hard.

“Debs, are you alright?” Allie whispered.

“Yes, I'll be fine,” she said in a hushed tone as they moved forward, she might not have wanted to be there but she wanted to know for sure that he was gone.

The coffin was pulled from the hearse and carefully raised onto the shoulders of the six men, their faces solemn, inside that rosewood veneered coffin lined with silk lay Harry, some of the people around them were struggling to hold back their grief, their tears flowed steadily and silently down their faces. Margaret spotted Debbie as soon as she got out of the car, paying no attention to the other people around her, she walked straight over to her.

“I'm so glad you're here Debbie, I know you really don't want to be, but it means more to me than you will ever know. And Allie thank you for coming with her.”

Margaret turned and looked at Liz,

“I'm sorry we haven't been introduced properly, I'm Margaret, Debbie's grandma.”

“Pleased to meet you, I'm Liz, I work with Bea as you already know, I'm sorry we had to meet properly under these circumstances.” Liz said as she extended her hand.

“Thank you Liz, but that son of mine was….well I'm sure you know what he was, and I know I shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but thank you for being here to support Debbie.”

Once seated inside the chapel there were words from the minister, long winded speeches from friends, shorter speeches from what little family they had, some brought on fresh onslaughts of tears. It was all so stupid to Debbie, and looking over at Margaret she didn't see any tears fall from her eyes either. More well spoken words, tributes paid to Harry's life, to the man that in reality not one of those people knew. A short while later they were by his grave side watching as his coffin was lowered into the ground. Debbie paused trying to control her breathing as Allie put her arm round her shoulders and Liz took her hand, to anyone looking on she must have looked upset but in her reality she was glad it was over, soon that hole in the ground would be filled in and that would be an end to him, he would be separated from them by six feet of earth and that was a relief.

As they walked away from the graveside the funeral director made his way over to them wanting to have a quiet word with Margaret, Debbie couldn't help but notice how he seemed to wear empathy in the same way he wore his overcoat, it was only for work. She didn't imagine for a second that he was a truly cold person, she didn't envy his job, how does anyone constantly dealing with the relatives of a deceased person actually find a way not to become drained from witnessing constant outpourings of grief. She could only imagine that he must have seen more bodies returned to the earth than most people would ever see sunsets. After speaking with Margaret he walked away leaving her looking a little upset as she walked back in their direction.

“Is something wrong?” Debbie asked.

“Not really, I just wasn't expecting to feel anything like this, I sat through everything I heard and I didn't recognise Harry from any of the words that I heard spoken, but a simple few words just upset me a little, nothing to worry about. Are you ladies staying for a while? I hope that you will, I don't actually know most of these people.”

  
Debbie looked around watching on as people gathered together in groups. She recognised some but not all and she could understand how difficult that must feel. They stayed for a little over an hour before Debbie said she wanted to leave, she wanted to go home and get changed into something more comfortable. She was a little quiet on the ride home and Allie had expected that, after saying goodbye to Liz they went inside, both going to get changed.

Allie gave Bea a quick call letting her know that they were back and also because she wanted to know if there was anything she wanted for dinner. Bea said she would pick up a takeaway on her way home after asking Allie to spend time with Debbie instead of worrying about cooking. Allie looked round the house for Debbie eventually finding her sitting outside in the sun.

“Mind if I join you?”

“Actually can we talk? I know I'm not upset, I'm glad it's over, but I need to talk.”

“Let me just run back in and get us both a drink then my ears are all yours.”

Allie had half expected Debbie needing to talk but had honestly thought that she would have wanted to speak to Liz. Going back outside she passed a bottle of water to Debbie before she sat down.

“I'm glad that's over, it was him in there wasn't it? I mean it had to be didn't it?”

“I'm pretty sure it was, what makes you ask that?”

“I've not been sleeping well since I found out he was dead, I didn't want to tell mum because I didn't want to worry her, and we both know she would have. I've have all kinds of crazy thoughts, like he'd show up at his funeral, you know, cos he couldn't be recognised after he got beaten up and he'd swapped places with someone else, not even sure how that would even be possible. Some nights I thought that it might just be a set up so he could go after mum again. The memories of the things I saw him do her, it's like holding onto a teddy bear made from glass shards, the tighter I hold onto it the deeper I get cut. I need to put it away, try and forget about it now, one day I hope I can let it go, and then everything we went through will give into a better life, not that I'm saying I don't think mum has a better life with you because I know she does. You bring out a glow in her and it's so obvious to everyone.”

“I can understand how you could think that, I don't know everything he did, I never will, I would never expect your mum to tell me everything because I know how much it upsets her, I know she thought it was a sick joke at first, but when we got real confirmation that it was Harry she settled a little, she was a mess when it came to telling you, she thought you were going to blame her.”

“She should have known I never would, I watched on unable to do anything as her whole body jarred when he hit her, how much pain I saw on her face, how bad the pain must have seared through her body, watching that took any sense of safety that I ever had away from me. He put everything he had into every punch or kick, sometimes she would cry and beg him to stop, but that would make it worse, she stopped crying the longer it went on, she just took it. Then he'd be really nice to me, buy me ice cream, when I was really small he'd lift me up on his shoulders or play with me out on the back garden. I thought he loved me, but I don't think he even knew what that word means. It doesn't matter what his dad did to him, he shouldn't have done that to mum. I wish I could put all those memories in the garbage can where they belong and forget about them, or better yet bury them in a deep hole in the ground, but neither is possible. I need to make new memories now, good memories and I hope that you're going to be part of them, you and mum have already made some good memories together, and Christmas was one of the best memories I've got.”

“Christmas was a good start, I've never had a Christmas like that, my parents didn't really care and would send us to my grans, our grandparents did the best they could for us, but it wasn't the same as being at home.”

They spent most of the afternoon sitting outside, Allie wanted to lighten the mood a little but wasn't sure how, until Debbie asked her about when they were leaving for the weekend.

“You are sure she's going to want to go aren't you Deb?”

“Told you she's going to love it, what time are you leaving?”

“Are you trying to get rid of us or something, hope your not planning a party.”

“Noooo…..mum would kill me, I thought I could hang out with Franky or Boomer, get some work done before I go back to Sydney.”

Neither of them had heard Bea get home, luckily she had only heard the last part of that particular conversation.

“You really want to hang out with Booms Deb?”

“Oh, hey mum, well why not you two don't want me hanging around all weekend.”

Bea walked off laughing not hearing what was said next.

“Good save Deb, you think she only heard that last bit?”

“Yer, she would have grilled us both if she had heard anymore.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, next! May be another couple of days but I'll get the next chapter written.


	90. Chapter 90

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allie takes Bea away for the weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't ask me how but I finished this chapter early, two chapters in as many days.

Allie had been out of bed for over an hour before Bea was woke up by the alarm, turning over and finding Allie’s side of the bed empty and cold she got up and went in search of her, finding her and Debbie sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee and laughing.

“What's going on here?”

“Morning mum, we were just talking, we didn't wake you did we?”

“No the alarm did that, why are you both up so early?”

“Sorry babe, I must have forgotten to tell you I need to get to work early, I didn't get the order finished yesterday so I need to get it done before lunch today. Do you want coffee?”

“Please, so why are you up early Deb?”

“I still need to finish an essay and I need to do some reading, the more I get done today the less I've got to do over the weekend.”

Bea sat next to Debbie at the table just as Allie placed a cup of coffee down on the table in front of her before kissing her on the head.

“I hate to rush off so soon but I have to get this order finished, I’ll see you both later.”

Bea wasn't overly happy about Allie rushing off so soon but the previous day had been a little crazy for her, she'd taken Debbie to work with her so guessed that she wouldn't have got much work done, the truth was that she had almost completed the order, Debbie had helped her saying that keeping busy was the best thing. Allie had everything planned for the day, she'd agreed to go in early mainly to help Will with the orders for the restaurant, Will had asked her if she wanted to learn for when he took a few days off he knew he could trust her not to mess it up, but also because she was finishing early and taking Saturday off. As soon as she'd arrived at the bar she sent a text to Franky.

**Don't forget Bea needs to be out of the office by 2pm**

She received a reply a few minutes later.

**Don't worry I'm all over it, we'll have her thinking it was her own idea to leave early**

She shouldn't worry she knew that, Bea needed a break for a couple of days, the previous case had exhausted her, she wouldn't admit it but Allie could see it. She always tried to brush it off whenever Allie tried to tell her she needed a break, needed to relax, she would just say she was fine. In reality Bea knew she couldn't hide it from Allie but she still tried to, she knew that there are two kinds of tired, one where all your body requires is a good nights sleep, and she did get plenty of those cuddled up to Allie she could almost always guarantee she'd have a good nights sleep, then there is the other kind of tired, the near complete exhaustion kind where your body needs, craves so much more. She had started out when they had first taken the Channing case just needing a good night's sleep, unfortunately now sleep was more or less what she craved the whole day, the need was ever present, it was like wearing a heavy coat the longer a day dragged on the heavier it became. Harry's death, coming face to face with his mother and worrying about Debbie was now not only making her tired it was playing havoc with her emotions. That constant feeling of tiredness was beginning to become ingrained as part of normal life for her, she hated it, she didn't want to just survive and endure anymore, that part of her life was history, she knew Allie was right but how could they find time right then to get away for a couple of days? She kept telling herself that as soon as this new case was done they would have a break, a weekend at the beach or something, she couldn't give it that much thought, didn't dare for fear that she wouldn't be able to focus on what she needed to do. Tiredness now wasn't just physical it was mental as well, her whole body cried out for rest, she struggled to make sense of simple things, but her brain was still telling her that she had a job to do, she had to focus, had to move, to burn off the exhaustion until it was done.

When Bea arrived at the office Franky and Liz were both already there, checking the time she thought it was strange, she wasn't late and Franky wasn't saying much.

“Ok, out with it, I woke up this morning and Allie and Deb were already up and now I walk in here and you're both early, I know it's not strange for Liz, but you Franky?”

“Just wanna make sure we know what we need to look into in more detail Red, fuck, can't I wanna do a good job?”

“Still sounds strange to me but I'll believe you for now anyway.”

They sat down in Franky's office, trawling through file after file before a happy, grinning David walked in, food in hand closely followed by Liz with coffee.

“You two planning on working through lunch?” David asked.

“Shit Red, haven't even stopped to pee, put that file down.”

“In a minute, wait, fuck, Franky have you seen this?”

“Well no you're the one reading it, what ya found?”

“This statement from a neighbour, it says that they saw a woman hanging around near Ryan's home the previous three days before he went missing.”

“That's not in the police report.”

“No it isn't, seems Greg Taylor really only does do half a job, it's all here and he never did any follow up on it.”

“Bea love, you need to eat, we all do, you can't go blaming yourself for someone else's mistakes, now like Franky said put the file down. David kindly brought us all lunch, and he's here to help, stop trying to take everything on.”

“Fine, I've put it down….sorry David, how's your course?”

“It's great, only three days a week though so I have plenty of time to help you guys out on this case, I'm ready to do anything you need help with.”

The four of them sat in Franky's office eating their lunch and filling David in on what needed to be followed up, who needed tracing and what they had planned to do so far. An hour later Bea received a text from Allie telling her she was finishing work early. Bea didn't know this was part of the plan that Allie, Franky and Liz had cooked up between them.

“What's up blondie missin ya?”

“Fuck off Franky, Allie just wanted to let me know she was finishing work early.”

“Ooooh, finishing early on a Friday, wonder what she's got planned for ya when ya get home,” Franky laughed.

“Debbie's at home remember Franky.”

“And?”

  
Allie had already been home for almost an hour before she texted Bea, Debbie helped her pack them both a bag and hid them in the boot of Allies car.

“Allie stop worrying, Franky and Liz will drag her home if they have to.”

“I know but what if she doesn't like it?”

“She's gonna love it, you haven't planned on taking her somewhere she hasn't talked about wanting to go for years, the dick head would never have taken her, shit his head would have exploded if he'd seen how much it costs just to order a meal there never mind how much it costs to actually stay there.”

“I know, but it's only money, and if it made her happy I'd spend every penny I have on her.”

“So stop worrying, she'd go anywhere with you, getting her to leave the house with you isn't going to be a problem, getting her to come home early might be, but I know Franky is more persuasive than mum will ever admit, now go for a shower and get ready.”

“Red just get ya self home, we can handle this.”

“Franky, you've already done more work on this than I have, and you're going to Sydney on Monday.”

Franky got up from her chair and walked round her desk.

“Bea listen to me, you're tired, you need to go home, spend some time with your girls, I've got David here, shit he's already working on tracing people we need to find. You've had so much crap to deal with and ya know I'm not just talking about the last case.”

“Franky….”

“I'm not listening….you have two choices here, you either pack up for the day and go home or I drag ya out of here kicking and screaming, and I'm sure blondie would kick my arse if I have to do that, so which is it?”

“Fine, you win, I'll go home.”

“Good, now get gone before I have to chase your ass outta here.”

As soon as Franky watched her drive away she sent Allie a text letting her know she was on her way.

———————————————

Bea was confused the second she got home, Allie’s car was nowhere in sight, walking into the house Debbie was sat on the sofa, her head in a book.

“Deb I thought Allie was home?”

“Yer, she was but she said she need to go out and do something.”

“Oh….guess I'll just go take a shower then.”

The second Debbie heard the bedroom door almost slam shut she grabbed her phone sending Allie a text.

**Mum just stomped off upstairs said she was going for a shower, I hope she's not going to stay mad at you or your weekend isn't going to go well**

Allie was sitting in the salon talking to Boomer when she received the text, Maxine was busy with a client.

“Shit!”

Maxine looked over seeing the change in Allie’s demeanor,

“Everything alright hun?”

“I'm not sure, it sounds like Bea’s mad at me.”

“Sweetie trust me she won't stay mad for long, when you get her out to the rainforest she'll have forgotten why she was mad at you to begin with.”

“I hope you're right, I guess I better get going.”

Allie sent a text back to Debbie letting her know she was on her way back.

Pulling up outside the house she took a deep breath before getting out of the car and walking towards the front door. Pausing for a few moments, she knocked on the door, hearing Bea call out to Debbie and receive no response. Bea was in the kitchen and was not happy that Debbie was now ignoring her, walking into the living room Debbie was now nowhere to be seen. Allie knocked again and Bea walked to open it grumbling to herself, yanking the door open, there was a moment as she saw Allie standing there that her face washed with nothing but confusion, it looked to Allie as if her brain couldn't quite work fast enough to take in the information from her eyes, until a slight smile crept onto her face.

“Allie, did you forget your keys?”

“No, but I need you to come with me,” Allie answered reaching out and taking her by the hand.

“Where are we going?”

“You'll find out soon enough, now just come with me.”

After a little gentle persuasion Bea got in the car and Allie drove away, the further out of Melbourne she drove the more confused Bea became, she was mad at her still though, Franky had practically kicked her out of the office and when she'd got home only Debbie was there Allie hadn't told her where she had been and now she wasn't telling her where they were going. It was almost 5pm when they turned off the main road, pulling up outside the reception building Allie suddenly saw the look of shock register on Bea’s face.

“Surprise!…..and before you argue we're here until Sunday.”

“But Allie, I…we…how?”

“You told me you'd always wanted to come here, I asked Debbie and Franky and they both said it was a good idea, now come on we need to check in, I still have more surprises for you.”

Allie walked into up to the check in desk of the Woodlands Rainforest Retreat with a very stunned Bea following her, after checking in and speaking to the guy behind the desk Allie lead Bea back outside.

“Allie, this place costs way too much.”

“Bea you need a break, you're tired, you drift off in the middle of a conversation, you fall asleep all the time, you need to take a couple of days away from work and home, besides it's already paid for.”

It didn't matter what she said she knew there was no argument she could make that was strong enough to get Allie to change her mind about this weekend. She was surprised, but everything surprised her, she had low expectations, she didn't expect anything from anyone because she knew that if she expected nothing from others everyone could surpass it with ease. For her high expectations had always led to nothing but disappointment and resentment, and she didn't want to live like that anymore. She was so easily surprised and she knew it, when Allie remembered to turn the bathroom light off before they went to bed she was happy, when Debbie picked up after herself without needing to be told twice she was thrilled. When Franky took her dirty coffee mug and washed it herself without her having to remind her that it was on her desk she was almost ready to jump over the moon, for so long low expectations had been her ticket to feeling happier than she ever did.

Allie went back to the car to retrieve their bags before leading Bea to their home away from home for the weekend. Walking down a secluded path a little way they reached the self contained cottage that was hidden in an enclave surrounded by the rainforest and overlooking the fern gully of Hermatage Creek. Bea couldn't help the look of wonder on her face as she tried to take in their surroundings, the rainforest of the Black Spur in the mountains of the Yarra Valley was a place she had always wanted to see with her own eyes but never expected to ever be there, the place was amazing. Amazing didn't quite cover it, the smile on her face couldn't adequately reflect what she felt inside, she couldn't find anyway to express how she was feeling, words failed her as if every neurone of her brain was trying to fire in both directions at the same time, her brain felt paralysed, but it was the best kind of paralysis.

After entering the cottage Bea still couldn't formulate a complete sentence as she wondered around. The cottage was open plan with huge floor to ceiling windows, the floors were made from polished mountain ash, there was a large brick fireplace and Bea made a mental note that they would have to return in the winter so that they could make use it. There was a fully equipped kitchen that even included a dishwasher.

“Am I still in trouble?”

“Huh? I…I…no, I mean…you were never in trouble. I was just a little mad when you weren't at home, where were you?”

“I went over to the salon, I know Debbie and Franky said you would love it here but…I just needed to talk to someone else, I sat with Boomer for a while, and then, well…Deb sent me a text and I thought you were going to be so angry with me.”

“I should be….but, hey what's with all the candles, if I didn't know any better I think you'd already been here.”

“Not quite, I paid for a luxury package with all the extras.”

Their cottage had been fully prepared before their arrival, with the exception of the candles being lit, that small detail had been taken care of while they were checking in. Allie checked the contents of the fridge finding everything that she had ordered for that night and the next day, all the food needed was reheating. The table was set ready with white linen and napkins. There was an array of lit tea light candles spread throughout the cottage and a dozen long stemmed red roses, as well as chocolates and a bottle of Yarra Valley sparkling wine sat in an ice bucket.

“Babe, why don't you finish looking around while I sort the food out, I think you'll find plenty more that you'll like.”

Bea took their bags and headed to the bedroom placing them both on the king size bed, wondering out of the bedroom she came across the glass walked sunken spa room. She couldn't believe her eyes as they landed on the huge oval spa. As she wondered back to find Allie she was just putting their starter on the table.

“Come and eat, then we can relax for the rest of the evening.”

“Yer, I am kinda hungry now, what are we having?”

“I had to pre order the food so I hope you'll like it all, I ordered the seafood tasting platter for our starter.”

“Starter?”

“I just said I had to pre order the food babe, I ordered a three course meal for tonight, I thought you'd like it.”

“I'm sorry, I do, so what have we got?”

The tasting platter was designed for two to share consisting of, salt and pepper calamari, virgin Bloody Mary oysters, Buxton smoked trout and prawn salad with aioli. Allie really hadn't been sure after she'd placed her order but after tasting it she knew she'd made the right choice. They sat for a while sipping on their glasses of wine and looking out of the window at the perfect view that was right outside the window in front of them.

“We can sit out on the deck for the rest of our meal if you want, I don't mind.”

“I think we should stay here, maybe we can sit outside after we've eaten, or maybe curl up on the sofa and watch a movie?”

“As long as you relax I don't care what we do, now stay where you are and I'll get our mains.”

Almost ever time they ate out Bea would usually order a steak for herself so Allie had ordered the Porter House Steak for her and the twice cooked belly pork for herself, they would always end up tasting what ever the other had so she didn't want them to have the same thing. When they had finally finished their meal after a desert of Eton mess they retreated to the sofa both too full to do anything but watch tv for the rest of the evening.

“Have you got anything planned for tomorrow?” Bea asked an hour later.

“Well I was thinking we could take one of the scenic drives, but if you want to do something else I don't mind.”

“I really don't mind, it would be good to see more than just the rainforest and the bedroom though,” Bea giggled.

“Well I hadn't planned on staying in bed the whole weekend…”

Bea retreated back into her own thoughts for a while, this time though her thoughts didn't seem so muddled, even with the tv playing softly in the background she could think for the first time in a few days, even though she was sat right next to her, her head resting on her shoulder she still thought of nothing but Allie. Thinking back to when she first found her, she knew now that right in those first moments she had been attracted to her, she would never have admitted it then, leaving her that first night felt wrong, Allie somehow was just the right blend of shy and sweet, it was just enough to draw her in and it felt right. Allie was quite simply the kindest and most reliable person she thought she had ever met. But reliable didn't somehow seem the best way to describe her, it sounds like something you would say about someone you didn't love, but she did love her with a fiery passion that she thought that she could never experience. Thinking a little longer she decided that reliable when she related it to Allie was everything, it was one of the things that allowed their love to flourish and grow. It was the cornerstone of the trust they had in each other, and Bea trusted her with her life. She was more calm, felt more whole and more mentally healthy than ever as long as she was right by her side.

Allie although Bea thought she was watching whatever was playing on the tv was just as lost in her thoughts, she had never been happier than she had been that first night she had stayed at Bea’s, she didn't want to be attracted to her but it had been almost instant, and she had been so scared that she would do or say something stupid that would leave her back out on the streets, Allie couldn't help that she had thought that she was more beautiful than the winter snow above an expanse of pristine snow, warmer than any spring sun shining down on soft new grass, more mesmerising than the autumn leaves as they drifted from the trees to the ground below. In her mind and in her heart she was like an eternal summer, everyday they spent together was like being under a perfect blue sky with so much love in the air, but it wasn't just because she was the most beautiful woman she had ever laid eyes on, even though she knew she was, everything she felt was because of who she was, she was the kindest, thoughtful and most wonderful woman she had ever known. It wouldn't matter how far apart they were, her feelings would always remain constant, Bea could be at the other end of the earth and she knew she would still feel the same pull towards her. There was just something between them that drew them together, they were each other's perfect match, each of them being the others loving other half, loving each other that a a life without each other would simply have no meaning. When things got dark they lifted each other back into the light.

Bea lifted her head from Allies shoulder and yawned.

“Think I'm tired, you don't mind if I go to bed do you?”

“Course not, this is nearly over anyway, I'll be in in a little bit.”

Bea leaned in kissing her on the cheek before getting up and walking to the bedroom.

And there it was just like always, that static between them, crackling in the air, it always felt like that, just a simple touch or a look and it was there between them. Turning off the tv Allie followed her to the bedroom, all she wanted was to be right wherever Bea was and right then she wanted nothing more than just to be laying next to her in bed, cuddled up close as they both fell asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping I can write the next chapter just as fast as I did this one but I'll make no promises just in case.


	91. Chapter 91

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the late update, I've struggled to write this chapter, but it is a little longer so I hope that makes up for the delay.
> 
> Just a warning for those of you who read my notes, towards the end of this chapter is definitely NSFW, you have been warned!

An hour before Allies eyes fluttered open the darkness outside their cottage had been absolute, now there was a light mist that was just visible against the backdrop of the trees, turning her eyes to the window she thought that it looked as completely beautiful as any oil painting she had ever seen. Dawn was slowly breaking and it brought with it its own musical silence, only her soul could hear the melody that her ears could not, the day was beginning bringing with it new possibilities, a fresh new page that they would write together no matter what they chose to do. In the early morning light it felt like a glimpse of heaven that all too soon would fade into blue.

As the sunlight filled the room, gently kissing everything in the world that was wild and free, the peace felt as if it would be eternal as Allie drew in a deep breath allowing herself to get lost in the early morning soft, diffuse sunlight, before it gave way to the first strong rays that would bring back true warmth to everything they touched. The opera from the trees dancing in the light breeze became more powerful as she listened more closely. As Bea slowly opened her eyes the warm ball of light filtered through her eyelids as she awoke that Saturday morning, suddenly remembering where they were as her eyes opened fully seeing the brightness the suns rays cast on the wooden floor, she blinked a few times attempting to help her eyes adjust to the illumination that was almost directed at her as she lay in bed facing one of the windows.

She could hear the trees of the rainforest softly sway in the breeze, seemingly playing one enchanting symphony after another, the leaves dancing to an unheard beat as they sing their songs into the breeze that carries them away. Outside their cottage, sheltered by the mighty trees, was every kind of life from the smallest spider to the parrots, cockatoos, kookaburras, wombats and wallabies that called the rainforest home. The sound of Hermitage Creek was like a mellow harmony, flowing like time, always flowing onwards towards its destiny. It flowed like a ribbon of living turquoise, flowing beneath the trees of the forest, no matter what sounds came from the trees it was constant and steady, always welcoming and refreshing. On quite mornings such as the one they had awoken to you could almost hear it whispering the wisdom it had gained over the years, maybe on stormy days that whisper would be lost to all but those who were willing to listen closely, but no matter it would always talk, speak it's wisdom to anyone who wanted to listen to its musical words.

Bea slowly turned to face Allie without a word, running her eyes over her slender body before coming to rest on her eyes, eyes as blue as the sea, so calming and full of love.

“How long have you been awake?” Bea asked as she raised her hand and tucked a few strands of her smooth silky hair that had fallen over her face behind her ear.

“Not long, I see why you always wanted to come here though, it's so peaceful, I could stay here forever just holding you.”

“Hmmm, might be difficult to do that forever, I'm sure we'll need to eat,” Bea giggled.

Allie knew that Bea had always been beautiful, hearing that giggle and seeing her so close did nothing but reinforce the truth her eyes saw. Her flawless complexion, messy curly red hair that gleamed when the light hit it just right. She had the kindest pair of coffee brown eyes that were framed with long gorgeous lashes, eyes that were always gentle and held a warmth within them. And god those lips, so kissable and flawless as if the angels themselves had sculpted them. All her features were set together on the most delicate, almost angelic face, and she was the only one who allowed to see her like this, in the morning light in the peacefulness of their bed.

“Actually I believe that you said we were going to take one of the scenic drives today, or have you changed your mind?”

“No, but I seem to remember saying that if you didn't want to we could do what ever you wanted to do.”

“Right now I think I'm hungry, but I'd love to see the black spur loop, I've heard that's the most scenic of all the drives round here.”

“Then we'll do that after breakfast….maybe later we can think of something else to do."

Bea’s face broke out into a huge smile,

“I believe that can easily be arranged.”

“So, breakfast….you stay here and relax while I go for a shower, and no arguments.”

“But..”

“Bea!…No buts, please just stay here, you need to relax, I won't be long, and we do have the whole day to ourselves.” Allie smirked at her.

“Fine, I'll stay in bed…you better not be long either,” Bea grumbled back at her as she turned to lay on her back.

Getting out of bed and heading towards the bathroom Allie couldn't help but shake her head, she had a plan and she wasn't going to let Bea spoil that. Walking leisurely to the shower she turned it on and adjusted the temperature filling the room with steam. Stepping in she loved the feeling as the water poured over her, her mind filled with ideas for the day, she'd done this for nothing other than wanting Bea to relax and rest, even on her days off when they were at home she didn't really relax and she was determined that she would over their weekend away. The sensation of the hot steamy water cascading over her body calmed her, she had been nervous but now that was all gone, Bea had accepted what she had done for her and she was going to make sure that it was enjoyable, that was all she cared about now. As soon as she finished in the shower she ran a bath for Bea, that always relaxed her so much more than a shower.

“Babe, I ran you a bath.”

“You wouldn't let me shower with you but you've run me a bath?”

“Yes, and what did I say about arguing?”

“Not to, I know….ok I'll have a bath….still would have rather showered with you,” Bea grumbled again as she got out of bed and slipped into the bathroom.

Stepping into the water she had to admit that it did feel so much better than standing in the shower, she slid down into the water allowing herself to fully relax, closing her eyes just listening to the sounds coming from outside the cottage and Allie moving around in the bedroom. It truly was like they had their own little slice of heaven for a couple of days at least and then they would have to go back to real life. The thought occurred to her as she snapped her eyes open that Franky and Debbie must have both known about everything, she wanted to be angry with them but she couldn't be no matter how hard she tried.

After finally getting dressed Bea found Allie putting the finishing touches to breakfast,

“I thought we could eat breakfast out on the deck.”

“Sounds good to me, need any help?”

“No, I got it covered, go and sit outside I wont be long.”

As much as Bea hated doing nothing she didn't want to spoil the weekend that Allie had planned for them by disagreeing with her, instead she just opened the doors that led out onto the deck, as soon as she stepped out there her senses were invoked instantly with calm and serenity. She stood for a few moments looking out over the beautiful fern gullies and the bushland lake, the only sounds that were to be heard were the sounds of the murmuring water of Hermitage Creek in the background and the resident birds moving about in the trees. Hearing Allie turn on some music she sat down in one of the chairs only then noticing that Allie must have done a great deal of work already that morning, the table was already set, a glass of fresh orange juice was waiting for her, a smile crept across her face, it would probably be so little to some people, but that single glass of juice had so much meaning for her, it was only a glass of juice, but Allie had placed it there for her, she had taken the time to put her first. Sitting there under the blue sunlit sky the view was a wondrous sight. As she sat and waited for Allie a deep sense of serenity overcame her as she looked out over the expanse of the lake that lay before her. Rays of light danced delicately across the water, birthed from the morning sun that both limited her sight as she had not thought to bring sunglasses out with her but also made the view all that much more beautiful. The lake in front of her is as fine as any mirror, it never showed exactly what is above it, but it converted it to an image that was so perfectly smudged and broken, the trees, the clouds above, a reflection that was as good as any painting, although this was free for the viewing. It was a transient sight, naturally it changed throughout the day and from day to day, but that thought took nothing away from what she saw, it was what actually made it all the more precious. She knew that if it were possible to sit in that very spot everyday for the rest of her life the view would always be the same but different in some way. In the city life dwells wherever it may, the trees are in pots, the goldfish are in bowls and the humans in brick or concrete dwellings. There are laws and rules that have to be learnt and followed, a community of really only one species, except for the few animals kept as pets. In the city you move, eat, work and sleep to the ticking of the clock, but out in the rainforest the minutes, hours and days can flow seamlessly into one another.

Allie soon enough appeared out on the deck, two plates in hand, placing them down on the table before walking out of sight once more only to return with fresh coffee.

“Hey you, eat up before it gets cold, I'm told that this is the best breakfast you can get round here.”

“I think that depends on the cook and from here I certainly think I have the best cook round here.”

“Is that so? Well then if you let it get cold and don't eat it your cook may go on strike.”

Bea didn't say anymore, she just picked up her knife and fork and started eating her breakfast.

———————————————

Finally hitting the Maroondah Highway to start their round trip of the Black Spur Bea couldn't help but think it would be so much better to be on the bike than in a car as they curved around every bend, as they drove deeper in to the rainforest the bright sunlight became more muted by the trees that towered 100 metres overhead, Bea heard the familiar sound of Harley engines telling Allie that she needed to take it easy, the sweeping corners made it just a little difficult to know how far ahead of them they were.

“You just want to perv at the bikes,” Allie giggled.

“Uh uh, I was thinking that we need to come back on the bike.”

“You wanna stop as soon as we get to Healesville, I hear there's plenty to do, or do you just want go back to the cottage?”

“I don't mind what we do, but it does seem like a waste of time for a 30 minute drive.”

“Oh so spending 30 minutes in the car with me is a waste of time?”

“Not what I meant and you know it.”

After wondering around the market in Healesville for about an hour they decided that they were getting a little hungry and ventured over to the ‘Innocent Bystanders Cellar Door,’ sharing a wood fired pizza before setting off again heading towards Marysville. Bea really wanted to visit Stevenson Falls while they were there but hadn't said anything knowing how much Allie hated walking, she knew that Marysville had many bushwalking and mountain bike trails but had never had the time to ever venture out there to just spend some time wondering the trails. Arriving in town a few minutes later Allie found a place to park before turning to Bea,

“Shall we pay a visit to Bruno’s Art and Sculpture Garden?”

“I thought that place was completely destroyed in a bushfire years ago.”

“Years ago babe, that's just it, Bruno stayed here after and he's completely rebuilt it.”

“I didn't know that, seems someone has done her research.”

“Come on then.”

Wondering through the rainforest hand in hand they stopped whenever they came across a different sculpture, each one had been hand crafted from clay, it felt like wondering through some kind of fantasy land, each sculpture different from the last. After another hour or so of taking in the rest of the sculptures and the art gallery they wondered back into town.

“I know you're going to love this,” Allie said with a bright smile on her face as she gently led Bea by the hand in the direction of the ‘Tree Fern Gully Trail.”

“And just where are we going? You hate walking.”

“You'll see when we get there.”

From a distance the waterfall had looked like a silent white stream cascading over the rocks, Bea hadn't even noticed it until Allie pointed out their destination. She was enjoying walking the trail with Allie by her side but seeing where they were headed made her even happier. Stevenson Falls really was a force of nature, both beautiful and brutal. From a distance it seemed so tranquil but the closer they got the louder it became, not that either of her them really cared about the noise, it was a breathtaking sight. After stopping for a while to admire the view they continued along the trail leading back to Marysville.

“Can we head back now?” Bea asked.

“If you're sure, there's nothing else you want to do?”

“No, nothing at all except be alone with you.”

Once back at the car Allie had opened the door for Bea, she sat and watched Allie slide into the driver's seat, put on her seatbelt and start the engine. She wanted to touch her, run her fingers through her hair, rubbing her hands together to try and control that sudden urge before putting on her own seatbelt and looking back at her a slight sigh escaped her lips. She couldn't help watch her every move, the subtle tilt of her head with every curve of the road. This was happiness, she'd dared to let it in, dared to let Allie get this close to her, something no matter what she had been determined never to do ever again. Happiness was something she had convinced herself was something that she didn't deserve, but she had started to learn that being happy meant living in the moment, allowing herself to be really present for the gifts that life could and did give her. Happiness allowed her to let go of so many negative emotions and replace them with only positive emotions, even though their working lives may often mean they would be apart for longer than either of them wanted, especially when Bea and Franky took on a big case the happiness would still be right there waiting for her at home. So much of her time at work felt so miserable and empty, she'd not wanted to think about the case this weekend but it was hard not to, her thoughts turning to the missing boy and his parents more than a few times. She couldn't help but think that in her work sometimes there could be a happy ending, maybe somehow this could work out better than her thoughts, they had found plenty of missing people in the past and she was trying to look on the positive. They had agreed to help on this case for nothing other than pure and positive motivations, and that had to fill her with hope and a little happiness.

  
Allie reached over and took Beas hand,

“What are you thinking about?”

“Hmm, just about how happy I am, that I never thought I could be…and that's mainly down to you, you crashed into my life and even though I had no idea what the hell was going on in the beginning I'm so glad you did.”

“I think you'll find that was the other way round, I was sitting in a doorway then this gorgeous woman was suddenly standing in front of me, scooped me up and took me somewhere safe. Stayed with me when I was going through hell and as much as I wanted to run as far away from you as I could, you wouldn't let me, wouldn't let me go. And I hate that you had to see me like that.”

“I'd do it all again if I had to.”

“I know, but you'll never have to, I never intend to end up back there.”

———————————————

As they sat out on the deck after dinner the heat of the day was finally turning to a comfortable warmth, the sun was slowly loosing its brightness and the vivid colours of the day were starting to soften, Beas eyes drifted between Allie and the glass of wine in her hand. If they were back at home they would just be sat in front of the television, watching a movie or some trashy tv show that neither of them would really be interested in. Sitting there surrounded by the rainforest they talked, shared funny stories, stared at each other in silence, it felt as if they were really living instead of just going through the motions and distracting themselves from what was really important, evenings like the one they were sharing was like medicine for their souls. Bea knew that if she could start her life over she'd want to be right where she was, forget the city and it's grey streets crammed with grey faces.

As the sun sank lower in the sky, the remaining light of the day slowly turning into the velvety darkness that was night she watched on as the fiery sun slowly sank beneath the horizon through the trees, a few threads of light still managed to linger in the sky before giving way to darkness. The clouds still drifted on silently as the silver stars winked down slightly illuminating the charcoal sky, as the clouds slowly parted rays of moonlight hit the lake giving it an aura of magic and hope.

Allie found the darkness of the rainforest strange, she had always lived in the city and was used to the constant night time glow from the streetlights. She couldn't ever recall seeing the kind of blackness that engulfed the forest, without the moon it would be an almost absolute darkness, she was glad they had left a light on inside at least that lit the deck a little. Her eyes wondering away from Bea for a few moments as she tilted her head towards the sky to see the millions of bright silvery stars that were dotted across the black canvas of the night sky. For a moment a past insecurity entered her head and she snapped her head back to Bea,

“Everything will be alright won't it?”

Bea turned her attention back to Allie, a slightly serious look on her face but warmth still radiated from her eyes, she placed the wineglass down on the table, leaning forward in her chair she reached out taking Allies hand in hers,

“As long as we're together Alliecat everything will always be ok, and everyone else in the world can go and fuck themselves. I'm not planning on being without you.”

That was all she needed to hear, that Bea did believe they had a future……they would have a future. Allie stood up from her chair taking the few steps that separated them before sitting down in Beas lap, she wanted to be close to her, run her hands over her skin, feel the electricity that would always jump start her heart. She wanted to feel Beas hands on her skin closely followed by her lips, to be in her arms was love, safety and passion, it was how Bea had brought her back to life when she felt completely dead inside, she revived what she thought she had lost, put back together the pieces of her shattered soul. She had lost a part of her a long time ago, the sense that people were born to be loved, to be cherished for whoever they were, but Bea brought that back to her, her words were always so precious, her laughter infectious, a remedy for everything, the feel of her body next to hers was healing. It wasn't just any one thing, it was them all combined, they had found what they had both needed in each other and Allie never wanted it give it up, never let go.

Bea knew there had always been something about Allie, something she had never quite been been able to pin down, to put her finger on, Allie made her heart flutter and her stomach drop, and as much as it sometimes still scared her she liked it.

“So…want to take this inside?” Bea asked.

“Hmmm, I think maybe we should,” Allie replied as she stood up taking Bea by the hand and pulling her up from the chair.

“Can I show you something?” Allie whispered, all Bea could do was nod her head.

They barely made it back through the double doors of the cottage before Allie pushed Bea against he wall, pinning her hands above her head with one hand and unbuttoning her jeans with the other, after finally dragging the zip down Allie looked into Bea's eyes as she slid her hand under her shirt slowly over her stomach and up to her breasts. Bea's hands were still pinned over her head and she squirmed against the wall.

“What's wrong babe? Tell me what you need.”

“You, I just need you,” Bea just barely managed to breath out.

“I'm right here, you've got me.”

Allie released her hold on Beas hands before grabbing the hem of her shirt and pulling it up and over her head, before pulling her own jeans and shirt off letting them fall where ever they landed before pinning Bea against the wall again kissing her with a passion that Bea didn't think she'd ever experienced before. Breaking apart when they were both gasping for air, Allie continued to trail kisses along her jawline, down her neck and along her collarbone, kissing down her chest and her still bra clad breasts. She continued to kiss lower until she reached the top of her jeans, grabbing hold of them and pulling them down as she sank to her knees allowing Bea to step out of them. Kissing her way back up Bea's legs only resulted in making Bea squirm more and groan with desire. Looking up into Bea's eyes from her kneeling position she smiled,

“I'm not giving in that easily babe.” Allie giggled as she slowly stood up taking Bea once more by the hand and almost dragging her to the bedroom.

Turning them round as she guided Bea back towards the bed before she pushed her down onto it, Bea slid her body further up the bed before she half sat up resting on her elbows looking at Allie as she crawled slowly up her body, coming to as stop as she straddled her hips, Bea pushed herself up away from the bed and wrapped her arms around her tracing her fingers up and down her back as she buried her face into Allies shoulder, kissing across her collarbone. Allie took the opportunity, while she wasn't paying attention, to reach behind her and expertly unhook her bra. Bea leaned slightly away for a moment giving Allie just enough time to remove her bra completely and toss it on the floor. Before Bea could pull her back in Allie removed her own bra, not wanting it to separate them any longer than it already had, the warmth of their skin pressed once more tightly together made them feel so much closer.

Allie got Bea to lay back down as she turned her attention to her breasts, kissing and sucking her already hardened nipples into her mouth. Her hands trailed down her sides as she kissed her way down to her stomach feeling her muscles twitch slightly as she went. She kissed over her hip turning her attention to her inner thighs as she pulled her panties down as she slid further down her legs, eventually allowing them to fall to the floor before making her way agonisingly slowly back up her legs, before slowly tracing her tongue through Beas drenched folds sending a tremor through her entire body, she didn't want to tease her but she didn't want things to end too soon, alternating between slow licks and circling her tongue round her clit, causing Bea to arch her back, pushing herself in to Allies face. She slipped two fingers into her curling them slightly, causing a shiver to run through Beas body as she arched her back a little and quietly moaned. Alternating the speed of both her hand and mouth Allie raised her eyes to look at her, seeing her biting down on her bottom lip, her eyes closed and her breathing heavy, she knew she wasn't going to last much longer and slowed her movements down.

“Quit teasing me,” Bea muttered in frustration as she brought her hands to rest in Allies hair.

“What do you want babe?” Allie asked.

“You to finish what you started,” Bea answered abruptly.

Allie wanted to laugh at the tone of her voice but didn't, deciding to do just what she asked. Speeding up the movements of her tongue and her hand and keeping them consistent. It took seconds before she sent Bea over the edge, her moans becoming louder and more insistent. Allie slowed her movements as she was coming down from her high until she felt her whole body relax back against the mattress, slowly removing her fingers she crawled back up the bed to lay beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her on the shoulder as she recovered her breathing.

Bea turned on her side allowing her hands to wonder, lingering a little longer tracing circles on Allies lower back until she pulled back a little looking Allie in the eyes with a lustful look as she gently pushed her back onto the mattress, their eyes never losing contact. Bea leaned in and kissed her, gently at first but it quickly became more heated. Kissing across her jaw and down her neck, across her collar bone and down her right arm, kissing over her stomach then back up her left arm before kissing and licking her way across her chest stopping when she reached her breasts. Kissing them all over before turning her attention to her nipples gently sucking one then the other into her mouth making Allie gasp. Allies hands found their way into Bea's hair as Bea continued her descent down Allies body, kissing down her stomach, before turning her attention to the inside of Allies right thigh, kissing her all the way down to her ankle then kissing her way back up her left leg painstakingly slow, before slowly tracing her tongue through Allies wet folds, stopping to gently kiss Allies clit, making her shiver at the contact. She licked from her clit to her entrance and back to her clit slowly, wanting Allie to feel every movement, taking Allies swollen clit into her mouth she sucked on it immediately feeling Allie's legs go limp. She swirled her tongue around it in slow circles gradually driving Allie wild until she was quivering and ready to explode. Before Allie could protest she stopped, a small whine escaping Allies lips, Bea looked up at Allie,

“Not just yet babe.”

“Bea, please…..stop teasing me, I……”

Bea smiled at her and began kissing her way back up her body until she reached her mouth, kissing her passionately. One of Allies hands again founds its way into Bea's hair the other came to rest on her back, lightly dragging her nails over her soft skin. Bea trailed one hand back down her body until she reached her destination and moving her fingers between her drenched folds gently applying pressure to her clit. Allie's hips jerked forwards desperate for more pressure to relieve the ache between her legs. Bea dipped her fingers lower slowly entering her with two fingers, slowly thrusting in and out of her, moving her thumb to give her the contact she knew she desperately needed. Increasing the pace Bea turned her attention to her neck, kissing and nibbling on her pulse point dragging more and more moans from Allies perfect lips.

“Babe…..I'm….I….”

Bea curled her fingers slightly, applying more pressure to he clit until she felt Allie convulse under her touch, she moaned and called Beas name until she rode out her orgasm before collapsing back against the mattress, almost completely breathless. Removing her fingers Bea lay gently beside her resting her head on her chest waiting for her to regain her breathing.

“Babe, that….that was…..fuck, I can't even think of the words that could even possibly describe that.”

“You don't have to try, all you need to know is that I love you,” Bea said smiling to herself.

“I love you too, much more than I ever thought could be possible.”

She knew she could never put their love into mere words, an entire ocean of ink would never be enough to write a description of it. They were a starburst of brilliant light against the darkest night sky. They were all the stars in the universe condensed into one single point. They were everything and nothing all at the same time. Together they were a beautiful dream and an ugly nightmare.

As they lay on the bed together, Allies head now resting on Beas chest their fingers entwined not saying anything much at all holding onto each other and looking out of the open window, the moon shone down its diffuse glow, lighting the forest from pitch black to charcoal grey. The moonlight was a diffuse ocean sitting perfectly in the night sky, lessening the inky blackness of the night as the minutes ticked away. Laying naked on the bed in the moonlight, the sound of the lake gently rippling not far away, Allie moved her head to look up at Bea who lent in for a kiss, the kind of kiss that they both wanted to last forever, after a little time passed their lips parted and they both gazed into the face of the person they loved so much. Untangling their fingers Bea raised her hand, gliding her fingers over the soft skin of Allies face,

“Have I told you how much I love you recently?”

Allie grinned back at her, Bea always said the same thing.

“Uh uh, I don't remember,” Allie replied shaking her head slightly trying to fight away the grin.

Beas hand migrated from her face to her hair, softly pushing back a few strands that had fallen across her face.

“Well I do, and you know what? I always will.”

Allie dropped her gaze from Beas before meeting it again a few moments later, there was an intensity in the way the looked at each other, as if Bea's love for her was kerosene and Allie was her only flame.

They were like mirrors and echoes of each other in so many ways, like they were lovers and best friends rolled into one. In truth they both knew that they were soul mates, they had an innate connection, the strongest bond that any two people could ever share. The only ones that could reach inside of each other with ease, stoking their passions, extinguishing their storms. Just by knowing each other they both became the truest versions of themselves, each gaining the strength and confidence to let their true colours shine through so brightly.

“We should sleep babe,” Allie whispered.

“But I'm not tired,” Bea pouted.

“I'm sure you're not, but we have to leave tomorrow.”

“I know, but we will come back, or find somewhere else just as perfect,” Bea breathed before she yawned.

Falling asleep together for Bea was like being caught in a carousel of thoughts, each thought being about Allie, every idea they shared, every notion and event from their day together would replay in her mind. Mumbled “I love you’s,” were soon replaced by soft breaths as they drifted into peaceful sleep in each other's arms.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping my brain will cooperate with me for the rest of the week and let me write at least another chapter.


	92. Chapter 92

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm later posting this chapter than I really wanted to be, mainly because I've had a few lazy days and didn't feel like writing, it's slightly shorter than most but I needed to finish it where I did otherwise I would still be writing it and that would have made it way too long.

Bea awoke earlier than was usual for her, especially on a Sunday morning, she wanted to stay were they were forever but it wasn't realistic, they both had to get back to work the next day, Debbie was returning to Sydney later that day and she wanted to see her before she had to leave. Slowly dragging herself out of Allie’s embrace she went to the bathroom to take a quick shower before pulling on a pair of shorts and a t shirt. Glancing back over to the bed where Allie still lay peacefully sleeping she smiled, how anyone could ever want to hurt such a perfect soul was beyond her, she couldn't get the thought that she had no right to her heart out of her head, but she felt blessed that she was able to love her with her own, no right to her time but she was honoured to share every moment she possibly could with her. She would always do what was best for Allie even if it meant she would do things at the expense of her own wellbeing. All she wanted was to make her happy, find the things that brought joy to her soul, if Allie hurt then she would hurt with her, how could she not?

Deciding that she was going to let Allie sleep longer she made a coffee and went out to sit on the deck. For Bea early mornings were their own reward, she had always loved them mainly because it was the most peaceful time of day. The trees were silhouettes against the early morning sky and the air smelt so fresh. There was no constant drone of cars, there was only the the sound of the lake, the creek and birdsong, together they were an opera only nature can give. There was something about dawn in the rainforest that made each new day feel like a gift, the sun rising was like unwrapping the world anew. At that time of the day the air was cool and damp, you could go to a spa for a full day and not feel so refreshed or renewed. Bea sat outside for a little longer not noticing that Allie was awake and already in the kitchen making breakfast until she heard her speak.

“How long have you been up?” Allie asked as she walked out onto the deck with their breakfast.

Turning her head in Allies direction she couldn't help but smile.

“Honestly I'm not sure, why are you awake?”

“Guess I was lonely,” Allie shrugged.

Bea sighed like a slight spring breeze, so soft and gentle that it was almost lost against the sounds of the rainforest.

“What's the matter babe?”

“Nothing really, I guess I'm just a little sad to be leaving later, sounds childish doesn't it?”

“No it doesn't, I'm going to miss it here to, we don't have to check out until one anyway, anything else you want to do?”

“No not really.”

“We can leave earlier if you want to get home to spend a little more time with Debbie, I don't mind, I know you're going to miss her.”

“Actually that sounds like a good idea, we still have things to do at home, and we both have work tomorrow, and it's just me a Liz in the office until Wednesday, well I think David might be stopping by….shit I need to call Franky as well when we get back.

By 11am they were ready to leave, they checked out and set off for home. The two hour drive back to Melbourne passed quickly with the two of them discussing plans for a return trip, stopping off for a bite to eat and also trying to work out when they would return to New Zealand. Reaching Melbourne meant returning to the mundane, the real world of work and everyday chores and they both felt it as they approached the supermarket deciding to stop off and pick up a few things before heading back home.

  
Entering the house they could hear voices coming from the kitchen, Allie dropped their bags down in the living room before returning to the car to pick up the last of the groceries, when she entered the kitchen she found Debbie and Franky sitting at the table laughing at a slightly red faced Bea.

“Franky!”

“Blondie!”

“What exactly did I miss?”

“Oh ya know, just asking Red about your dirty weekend.”

“Should have guessed, leave her alone Franky, and shouldn't you be at home?”

“I came over to hang out with Deb for a while, calm down would ya? Anyone would think ya not pleased to see me.”

“Yer well you said it.”

“That hurts blondie, seriously though, I'll be on the same flight to Sydney as Deb tonight, want to make an early start tomorrow, and…well Gidge is dropping me off at the airport so I thought we could swing round and pick Deb up, seems pointless Red driving over when I'm heading the same way.”

Bea sat down next to Franky looking over at Debbie, she had assumed that she would be the one to take her to the airport, she hadn't thought for one second that Debbie would go with anyone else, it made sense she could see that, and Debbie wasn't a child anymore, she was a young adult living her own life. When she was small she would think of her as flower waiting to bloom, she had grown up too fast. Now she was an eagle, she had her own wings and her own inner strength. She still had her vulnerabilities, just as Bea herself did, but she could see that she had her own future to walk into. She had to take a step back, adapt to how their mother daughter relationship would be, she could no longer walk the path in front of her, not unless she was asked, she knew deep down that now was the time to let her walk that path alone, she would always be there, she would always know where to find her. Her thoughts let the sadness take over, but where that sadness would have once led to her feeling hollow, completely empty, she saw Allie as she moved around the kitchen putting things away and it no longer felt like that, the sadness might still be there but her life wasn't empty, she was no longer a hollow shell. Her eyes followed Allie around the kitchen as a small smile crept across her lips.

“Mum…..mum…..earth to mum!”

“Hmmmm……Deb, sorry what?”

“Really mum, you've just spent the weekend together….you don't mind do you? If I go to the airport with Franky, it's stupid you driving me over there when we're on the same flight.”

“No, no, course not, but can we get rid of Franky for a while so we can spend some time together before you have to leave?”

“Ouch! Ya wound me Red, good job I love ya….I can take a hint, I better get back to Gidge anyway.”

“Yer, piss off Doyle,” Allie giggled.

“Jesus, you two know how to make a girl feel wanted don’t ya? I'm goin’ already,” Franky huffed as she stood up.

Bea, Allie and Debbie spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing around the house chatting and laughing, ordering pizza just because Debbie suggested it and no one could be bothered to cook before it was time for Debbie to leave. Walking her down the drive to Bridget's car Bea felt the same sadness she guessed she would always feel whenever she left.

“I'll text you as soon as I can mum, stop worrying.”

“Just make sure you do, and Franky don't forget to call me tomorrow.”

“Sure Red, I know what I need to do, not sure who I'll be seeing first yet cos I still got some calls to make first thing, David has a class in the afternoon but he’ll be in the office in the morning and all day Tuesday with ya.”

“That's fine Franky, now you better go if you don't want to miss your flight.”

“Oh now she can't wait to get rid of us Deb,” Franky laughed as she looked round at Debbie.

After watching the car drive away Bea and Allie retreated back into the house, Bea sank down into the sofa followed by Allie, they could spend all day together just sitting like that, chatting, laughing or just sitting in silence. Debbie had left the house a little messy and they hadn't done anything they had meant to do that afternoon, but after looking around them Bea decided that it didn't really matter, they would get it done after work tomorrow she thought. Together they could sort laundry, clean and prepare dinner, right now for the next few hours they were going to relax for what little was left of their weekend.

———————————————

Debbie looked around the airport, it was busier than the last time she had returned back to Sydney, to her it looked like a sea of unknown faces all moving in an unseen current, flowing like water to their check in desks or onto security before they passed into the departure lounge. Some small groups would stop and chat, but the rest would just keep flowing round them and continue on their way. She followed Franky to check in and get their boarding passes, both of them only had hand luggage, Debbie never needed to take much home with her and Franky was only away for a couple of day so no need for a suite case. Neither of them spoke until they entered the departure lounge.

"I need a coffee, how about you Deb?”

“Yer, sounds good, then you can tell me more about this case, mum hasn't said much except that it's a missing boy, I mean should I start worrying about her?”

Getting a coffee they found a seat before Franky went into anymore detail.

“I'm hoping none of us have to start worrying about her Deb, she was a little hesitant to take this case, but yer it's a missing six year old boy, he's been missing for six years so technically if he's still alive he'd Bea 12 now, the police investigation went cold, but ya know after reading the files I think it was more a lack of interest, they never seemed to follow up on leads or with witnesses.”

“So if it's a Sydney case how did you end up with it?”

Franky went on to tell her about the private investigator who had contacted them wanting their help, and about how Franky was sure even he had missed out on a lot of the details. Finally their flight was called much to Franky's relief, it wasn't that she minded talking to Debbie about the case but she was just tired, she'd spent the best part of the weekend reading more files and taking notes, she hadn't left the office until well after midnight on Saturday and she'd been glad that David had spent all afternoon and most of the evening helping her out. Even then after she'd gone home, armed with more files, she'd carried on reading and making her own notes much to the annoyance of Bridget who had tried to get her to go to bed because she looked exhausted.

Debbie was in the window seat, something that she was pleased about, she'd always loved to look out of the window, she always thought back to the first time Bea had let her sit there one Christmas when they flew over to New Zealand, every time they had gone before Bea had always refused to let her sit there in case she got scared, the thought of having to try and calm down a distressed child because she was afraid after watching the plane take off had always led to her refusing her constant requests to sit there, but that year had been different, the run up to them leaving had been particularly bad for Bea, Harry had beat her almost every night for the week before they left and Bea was so exhausted that she'd just given in. A then young Debbie had sat excitedly looking out of the window for the whole flight as Bea had slept. This flight would be no exception, although she had chatted with Franky a little until they reached their cruising altitude, after that Franky had said she needed to sleep. Turning her head to look out of the window she was still amazed at the sight before her, the clouds lay as numerous as pebbles on a beach, small and heaped into chaotic patterns, above them was a drifting mist, strangely transparent, like half erased footprints on the sand as the sea lightly washed them away. After looking in Franky's direction and seeing that she was asleep Debbie decided that she would read for a while, she had finished the work she needed to get done while she had the house to herself but she still had some reading to do.

Lifting her head from her book as the plane started its descent, she snapped it shut and nudged Franky,

“Hey, sleepy head we’ll be landing soon, wake up……Franky!”

“Yer, yer, I heard ya, I'm awake,” Franky huffed and she straightened herself up in her seat. “Shit did I sleep the whole way?”

“Errr, yer, looks like it,” Debbie half laughed.

Looking back out of the window the sight below them almost took Debbie's breath away, she had seen the same sight before but it never failed to amaze her. The ground below was alive with lights, it was as if someone had taken large handfuls of glitter and scattered it as far as the eye could see. It was way too dark to be able to make out individual buildings from the height that they were still at, but the lights were enough for her. She let a slight sigh escape her knowing that in a few minutes time they would have landed and the city would look so different from the ground.

“Hey what's up Deb, not missin’ ya mum and blondie already are ya?”

“What no…I mean, yer I miss them, but it's not like I'm not going to see them again is it? I just love looking out over the city from here.”

“Well shit Deb, ya need to get out more, I thought all students did was party,” Franky chuckled.

“I do party, but I still gotta study ya know.”

“I'm pullin’ ya leg, shit don't ya be going all serious on me, don't ya think I get enough of that from ya mum?”

Once they exited the airport they decided that they would share a taxi, Franky knew she would be dropping Debbie off first before they got to the hotel she was staying at so didn't see the point in them going their separate ways just then. They both got in the back of the taxi, Debbie telling the driver where she needed to go first. Almost as soon as they set off it started to rain, the taxi ran smoothly over the now wet tarmac, the passing buildings and greenery becoming a blur, the rain beating down on the roof like some crazy drummer as the rain became heavier. Inside the taxi they were both feeling a curious mixture of cozy and bored, both of them itching to get to their respective destinations. Debbie pulled out her phone sending a quick text to Bea before asking Franky if she wanted to meet up in the morning for breakfast, Franky agreed knowing Bea would be happier if she kept a watchful eye on her while she was there, they agreed where to meet just as they pulled up to let Debbie out, she tried to pass Franky some money but she refused it saying that it wasn't that much out of her way and that Debbie should save her money. Franky told the driver which hotel she was going to and waved to Debbie as they drove away.

The hotel lobby was classy in a kind of unclassy way, it had all the opulent items you would expect for a hotel that mainly catered for the corporate world, high end with no touch of personality, not the kind of place that Franky would usually chose to stay. The hotel had been recommended to her by Greg Taylor, although she doubted that he had ever had the need to stay there himself, probably had some deal going with the manager she thought. Walking over to the front desk she couldn't help but notice the deep brown wooden floor under foot, it shone as bright as any polished glass. There were flowers on the front desk, the perfect shade of orange that complimented the woody hues and creams that the lobby was decorated in.

Finally making her way to her room, all she wanted to do was sleep but she still had work to do, she was still trying to decide if she should just call Bridget and then crash making sure she set the alarm on her phone a couple of hours earlier or call Bridget then spend a couple of hours trying to get some work done. Walking into the room it was just as she had expected it would be, a room perfectly set out that could grace any magazine cover. Dropping her bag on the floor beside the bed she scanned the room, she was slightly afraid to sit down on anything in case she would wrinkle the fabric or leave a stain on it from something that she wasn't aware of on her jeans. The sofa was cream with the most delicate fine green silk leaves embroidered so delicately on it that she could swear they had drifted in from a tree in the spring and had just sunk into it, looking at it more closely she could tell that they had taken hours, probably hundreds of hours to sew. There was a large tv in the corner of the room, something she doubted she would be making any use of during her stay. The curtains were white linen, the kind of really bright white that looks like it has never been touched by a single human hand and not one speck of dust on them anywhere, looking a little closer she noticed the almost hidden cords that are used to open and close them. Kicking off her boots and throwing her jacket on the bed she flopped down on the sofa, it was definitely made for style more than comfort, but that was how the whole room was, it all had a clean look, minimalist and pale.

Retrieving her phone from her pocket she sent a text to Bea.

**Shared a taxi with your mini me, meeting up with her for breakfast. Will call ya tomorrow evening with an update.**

After that she called Bridget. They chatted for a few minutes until Franky was unable to fight back a yawn and Bridget told her to get some sleep, Franky had tried to protest saying that she wasn't that tired and probably wouldn't be able to sleep anyway but she was fighting a losing battle and hung up soon after. Setting the alarm on her phone she placed it next to the bed before using the bathroom. Pulling off her jeans she couldn't be bothered to get changed, pulling back the sheets she ran her hand over the mattress before sliding into the bed, pressing her head into the cool, soft pillow. The sheets were irresistibly soft next to her skin, much as she imagined a billowing cloud would feel. It was a relief to finally rest her weary body, turning off the lamp she pulled the covers over her body, warmth and darkness finally helping her to hear the call of sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm am going to try and get at least one other chapter written this week, I think I'll find the time since the weather forecast isn't looking great, well it's looking more like rain, rain and for good measure just a little more rain ☔️


	93. Chapter 93

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Franky find out any more information about Ryan Greens disappearance?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So another short delay with this chapter, but here's just a little over 5000 words.

At 5am Franky's alarm whirled between various different annoying noises of varying tone, pitch and volume, to anyone else it would most likely have sounded like a disco for the devil himself, for Franky it was the best way to get her up and moving when there was no one to force her out of bed and this morning it jarred her out of very peaceful sleep as she sat bolt upright grabbing her phone and turning off the alarm before throwing her phone down on the bed. Rubbing her still tired eyes with the palms of her hands before raking her fingers through her tangled hair she sighed, for a fleeting moment she forgot that she was alone until she looked around and the feeling of being whole evaporated faster than a light summer rain on the pavement, waking up alone was no longer the pleasure it used to be to her. As she sat back against the headboard for a few seconds her eyelids felt droopy and once more she snapped them open violently as if she had just heard an air raid siren. Her eyes wide open she reached for the lamp and turned it on, the light suddenly overwhelming her brain, looking around the room she wished she could linger in bed, close her eyes and return to the blissful ignorance of sleep.

Pulling back the covers she swung her legs out of bed dropping her feet to the floor, she needed a shower and to get ready to face her day, she remembered she had a couple of files she really needed to look through and some calls to make, she was meeting Debbie for breakfast at 7:30am at a cafe not too far from her hotel so would have to make the calls after that. After shedding the clothes that she had tumbled into bed in the previous evening she made her way to the bathroom, another room that she thought wouldn't look out of place in a magazine with its gleaming granite counter top, walnut framed mirror, oversized bathtub, walk in shower, fluffy towels neatly arranged on the heated towel rack and a bonus for her being that the tiled floor had underfloor heating, a big plus at that time in the morning. Stepping into the shower she flinched a little as her feet touched the chilled ceramic floor, warm water cascading over her body felt like a relief, her mind was in shreds, she had so much to do, for a few minutes all she wanted was silence and hot running water. After her shower she retrieved a fresh set of clothes from her bag, she really should have taken them out the night before but had been too tired, after getting dressed and returning to the bathroom to deal with her hair she got the files and her notebook, the sofa, although slightly uncomfortable would be the best place for reading, she toyed with the idea of laying on the bed but changed her mind knowing that there was every possibility that she may well fall back to sleep.

After making herself as comfortable as she could she poured herself into the pages of the first file, she skim read parts of it, paid more attention to certain parts reading until she was almost cross eyed and the words started to merge into nonsense. Her note book sat heavy in the palm of her hand as she scribbled down more questions she needed to try and find the answers to. It wasn't a particularly large or thick book, but inside it lay a thousand questions, and everyone she needed answering as if her life depended on it. The second file had a vice like grip on her, statements from people who had seen the woman who had been hanging around not only near Ryan's home but his school too, why had she not seen this file sooner she wondered to herself. This sounded more like a twisted movie plot by the day and the reality of what she was reading began to distort her own thinking, challenging how she had once viewed this case. She needed to call Bea and David sooner than she would have liked but it was still a little too early to even call Bea.

Needing to stretch her legs she got up walking over to the window to open the curtains before grabbing herself a bottle of water from the mini fridge returning to the sofa and the file that had come from Greg Taylor himself, she couldn't understand why he hadn't followed up, surly he would have wanted to know more, especially when one of the statements said that they thought they may have captured the woman on their CCTV, there had been no video in any of the boxes, she had to call him later and find out if he had just misplaced it, but she doubted it. The morning was beginning to fade in like a scene from a bad theatre production, the cast of which were now stomping about in the corridor outside her room, slamming doors and projecting their voices. Looking at the time on her phone it was 7:01am, she laughed to herself knowing that this would be something that was repeated every morning at 7am, glad really that she would only have to have one more repeat performance of it, she had a two morning bit part with no lines, all she would have to do was eat, work, sleep, pack her bag and then leave, no conversation or smiling with any other occupants of the hotel required. Putting the files and her note book to one side she left her room to walk to the cafe that she was meeting Debbie at. Five minutes later the cafe was just ahead, Debbie had told her that she loved it there, the owners were originally from London and had moved to Sydney twenty years ago, Debbie had told Franky that it was a traditional British greasy spoon cafe, mugs of tea, sausage and chips, burgers, large portions, laughing when she had told her about the small rickety tables with their plastic tablecloths and the tomato ketchup in red plastic bottles. Stopping just outside before she went in she looked up at the royal blue paint as it glistened in the first golden rays of that morning, “Gloria’s”, she couldn't help but wonder why it was called that but then reasoned that it must be one of the owners names. The street was quiet at that time of day but in an hour or so it would be bustling with people, the pavement underfoot would be packed with people going about their days, she smirked a little as she looked to her right seeing the flower planter sat there, the new blooms gave her flashes of yellows and pinks. Entering the cafe Debbie was already waiting for her,

“Morning Franky, I was beginning to think you'd forgotten, or you were still sleeping,” Debbie giggled at her.

“Na, been up for hours, and you're too much like ya mum ya know that, she's always early for everything.”

“I already ordered for both of us, you don't mind do you?”

Franky shook her head as she sat down across from Debbie.

“You know what's good I guess, and it better be good kiddo.”

“Oh it will be, I have the same thing every time I come here for breakfast, bacon obviously and a Spanish omelette.”

An older woman approached the table that they were sitting at with a glass of orange juice for Debbie and a mug of coffee for Franky, placing them on the table she carried on the conversation Franky assumed she had been having with Debbie before she got there. Franky studied her for a few moments, the map of wrinkles on her face told of the most incredible journey she must have taken throughout her life. Her eyes told of laughter, warm smiles and affection, her forehead told of worries both past and present. She had practical short length hair that was for the most part silvery white and warm brown eyes.

“Franky, this is Gloria.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Franky said with a smile.

“Debbie's told me a lot about you, it's nice to put a face to the name,” Gloria said in her cheerful British accent.

“Yer, I bet everything she told ya was bad,” Franky chuckled.

“Well some may have been,” Gloria laughed, “I'll be back with your food in a couple of minutes.”

“You talk too much Deb ya know that?”

“Hey, I do not, but I don't usually come over here on a Monday so when I came in she wondered why I was here, I only told her that you work with mum and that you were in Sydney for a couple of days….although I might have mentioned what a pain in the ass you can be.”

A couple of minutes later Gloria returned with their food, placing the plates on the table she smiled and walked back to the kitchen. Franky had to admit that she was actually hungrier than she had first thought she was.

“Don't just look at it Franky, it's not poisoned.”

Trying the bacon first she was impressed, it was perfectly crisp, the flavour was like a bomb in her mouth, exploding in all the right ways, “now this is the right way to start a Monday morning,” she thought to herself. The omelette, a Spanish omelette, so Debbie had said, having never been to Spain Franky couldn't really comment on the validity of that claim, it looked to her as if Gloria had bought one of everything she found in a green grocers and just thrown it in, well maybe not everything, cutting into it she she knew there was a lot in there, potato, tomato, mushroom, onion, spinach, with just enough egg to hold it all together. They chatted as they ate mainly about Debbie's studies, Franky needed a distraction and Debbie could always tell her stories that made her laugh and took her mind of everything that was bothering her. Once they had finished eating Franky checked the time, she really needed to get back to the hotel,

“Deb, I'm sorry I have to run, got calls to make and places to go.”

“I understand, besides I have a lecture at 9am, give me a call if you need anything.”

“Ha, shouldn't I be the one saying that to you? Seriously though I'll get this.” Franky said as she slid some money over to Debbie.

“Franky I can afford to pay for my own ya know.”

“I know, but just let me get this, I'll be offended if ya don't.”

“Fine,” Debbie huffed, “but I'll get it next time.”

“Yer sure Deb, I’ll give ya a call later if I have time, if not I'll call ya tomorrow and try and catch up before I go home yer?”

Franky left the cafe heading back to the hotel, it did still seem rather quiet, she thought that if she stopped walking right then she would hear the actual heartbeat of the city, something like the ticking of an old grandfather clock. She got back to the hotel in no time at all, arriving in her room she decided to call Bea first.

“Franky I thought you were calling me this evening.”

“I was but I found somethings in one of the files I brought with me, is David there yet?”

“He arrived about five minutes ago, do you want to speak to him?”

“I need to speak to both of you really.”

Bea put the call on speaker so they could both talk to Franky.

“So come on Franky what's going on?”

Franky explained everything that she had found in the file asking David to double check the boxes after they ended the call for any sign of the missing CCTV footage, and also if he could find out if the original lead detective on the case was still working. Bea was more concerned with the fact that there was a big chance from everything Franky had found out that Ryan could actually still be alive somewhere, up until that point she had thought the best outcome they could hope for would have been to find his body but now she saw a small glimmer of hope. After discussing a couple more things that Franky needed David to do for her they ended the call. Checking her notebook for the phone numbers she needed she took a deep breath before entering the number she had for one of the neighbours who still lived on Ryan's street, after a brief conversation with Mrs Mitchell she arranged to visit at 4pm after her husband returned from work. The next call she made was to a Mr and Mrs James, they were the elderly couple who had said they thought they had captured the woman on CCTV, Mr James seemed genuinely pleased to hear that someone was still looking for Ryan and offered to gather the remaining neighbours at their house at 1pm to help Franky out a little, Franky agreed to that suggestion in a heartbeat after telling him that she would be meeting with Mr and Mrs Mitchell later in the day, after ending the call she decided not to call Greg Taylor she was just going to walk over to his office, she thought the guy was a little strange, Bea didn't like him very much and didn't try to hide her annoyance with him for the slack investigation he had done and Franky knew Bea was usually a good judge of character. Gathering what she needed together she quickly left the hotel again.

There was nothing Franky loved more than a hot summer day, above the busy city, high above the honking cars and busy people the bright sky cloaked the city, it was really just another ordinary day candy floss clouds drifted lazily across the sky, the sun shone brightly forcing the people below its glare to squint, look down or cover their eyes with sunglasses. Reaching Greg Taylor's office she walked in finding him sat on a sofa in the corner of the room. He made no attempt to move as Franky looked around the room, it was painted white and had one floor to ceiling window facing the main road. On the large grey desk sat a desktop computer, a stack of papers sat under a paper weight, what looked like an appointment book lay open no sign of any scribbled down appointments for that day. In another corner of the room the air conditioner was on, the swivel chair was pushed back from the desk almost in the middle of the room making Franky think that whoever had been sitting in it had left in a hurry. There was a small bookshelf against the wall that had another stack of papers sitting on top of it also with a paperweight holding then in place. She looked back to Greg,

“Not busy today err?”

“No, not really, it would seem that there's not a great deal of call for my services today,” Greg answered as he rose from the sofa and made his way to a door leading to his own office beckoning for Franky to follow him.

Entering the office Franky once more looked around, this office was painted grey and had one small window that was open, the whole room looked like it was in a state of half organised clutter, a large mahogany desk sat in the middle of the room, what looked like one of the worlds most uncomfortable chairs sat in front of it a swivel chair sat behind it. Another desk top computer sat on top of the desk along with stacks of paperwork and various pens scattered around. There was a floor to ceiling bookshelf full of books leaning against one another in different directions a filing cabinet, two of the draws open and yet more paperwork stacked on top of it. She couldn't help but internally laugh to herself thinking how Liz would go mad at her and Bea if they let any part of the office get into this state.

“Please take a seat Franky, glad you made it to Sydney, what can I help you with today?”

“In one of your files you sent us I noticed that there was mention of some CCTV footage of the woman who was hanging around, was there any?”

Greg thought for a few moments before he answered.

“No, no, I don't believe there actually was if I remember correctly.”

“If you remember correctly?” Franky questioned.

“They are a dear sweet old couple, what are their names?………………...James, Mr and Mrs James, but no I don't believe there was actually anything of any significance on the CCTV.”

Franky was starting to dislike the guy more than ever after that last statement, he had done what on the surface was a huge amount of work on this case but hadn't done a great deal of follow up and he struggled to remember the names of the people who had offered him some of the best evidence, even if it were true that there was nothing on the footage Franky would not have forgotten their names and would still have kept a copy of it. Before Franky could speak again she heard the outer office door open then slam shut before Greg’s office door flew open.

“Greg, we've go to……..”

Greg shot up from his chair as Franky turned her head to see who had burst into the office.

“Franky this is Erica……my associate.”

“Really smooth introduction Greg,” Erica snapped as she crossed the floor stopping next to Franky and extending her hand, “Erica Davidson, you must be Franky Doyle pleased to meet you.”

Franky swallowed hard as she looked up at her, “get a grip, you have the most amazing and beautiful woman waiting at home for you,” she told herself.

“Errr, yer, nice to meet you.”

“I'll leave you to it…but Greg we need to talk.”

Greg nodded as he sat back in his chair and watched her walk out of the room.

“Sorry about that, she can be, shall we say a little over the top sometimes.”

“Yer, I know how that feels….now I need to ask if you have anything pertaining to this case that you didn't send us?”

“I assure you I sent you everything I have Franky.”

“Yer ya did, ya would have had more if you'd bothered to do everything ya needed to do,” Franky thought to herself.

“Ok, so I need to get going, got a few people I need to see and some calls to make, if you think of anything you may have overlooked you have my number yer?”

“Yes I do, if I can be of any help to you while you're here don't hesitate to call me.”

Franky left the office deciding that she was going to get a quick bite to eat, she was still in disbelief as to how Greg had done so little really. She couldn't help but laugh about his offer of help, she wouldn't ask him to help her tie her shoelace. Spotting a coffee shop just a little way in front of her she carried on walking in that direction.

After ordering a coffee and a blueberry muffin she sat at a table near the window just as her phone began ringing.

“David, what did you find out for me?”

“Keen today aren't ya Franky? Well the lead detective is now retired but I've tracked him down and I called him for ya, he works at a homeless shelter now and he's keen to talk with you, I'll text you his number. I also double checked all the boxes for you with Liz’s help and there was no CCTV footage.”

  
“You know kid ya gonna make a great investigator.”

“Thanks Franky, I've got to get to class now but I'll be here tomorrow if you need anything.”

Almost as soon as they hung up the promised text message came through from David with the detectives details. She was going to wait until the next morning to call him, she had too much to do with the rest of her day and after checking the time she left the coffee shop, getting a taxi she headed over to the Earlwood area of the city. Arriving at the James residence she payed the driver, got out of the taxi and looked up at the house, if the front garden was anything to go by then being an elderly couple meant nothing, Greg Taylor seemed to be implying that them being older meant they weren't really as reliable as their younger counterparts. As she walked up the stone path that led to the front door she had to admire the perfect lawn lined with wooden planters that were obviously hand made and filled with some stunning plants. The flower beds that lined the other side of the lawn were a riot of colour and looking a little more closely she could see they were weed free. As she approached the door it opened and a older man stood smiling at her,

“Franky Doyle?” He asked.

“Yes, that's me, Mr James?”

“Yes my dear, but please call me Tom I saw you admiring our garden from the window, do you garden?”

“Not really, I'm definitely not a green thumb like you clearly are.”

“That's the wife I have to confess, I handle the lawns and the weeding, she's amazing, used to own a small garden centre she did, but enough about that, please will you come in, the three sets of neighbours who were here when young Ryan went missing are already here.”

Franky followed him into house, closing the door behind them, following him down the hall to the spacious living room.

“Please take a seat Franky, can I get you a drink?”

“I'm fine right now thanks.”

Franky sat in the chair that was directly opposite the two large sofas that everyone else was sitting on, Tom introduced her to his wife Grace and the rest of the presently assembled company, Mr Scott, who insisted she called him Bill, Mr and Mrs Patterson, Kevin and Tracey they also insisted and Mrs Ellis or Rachel as she told Franky.

“I have to ask would you all mind if I recorded our conversation it's much easier, and I'm less likely to get the details wrong if I don't have to write everything down?” Franky asked hoping they would be agreeable.

Much to her relief they all agreed, Tom saying that it was about time someone was taking Ryan's disappearance seriously. Franky looked at Tom, he was nothing special in appearance but every time he spoke he put Franky at ease. Sure he was elderly but as sharp as a tack, the wrinkles on his face carved out a map of his life on his still agile and mobile facial features. His eyes were framed by thick white eyebrows and he had a little stubble on his face, his blue eyes shone brightly in the light as his dazzling white teeth shone with a fresh gleam. Grace passed Franky a DVD disc, this confused her a little then the realisation hit her what it was, the missing CCTV footage.

“I was told there was nothing of value on the footage.”

Tom shook his head, “Greg Taylor told you that I assume, the mans a fool he never even looked at it, we kept the footage, you know just in case an intelligent person ever came looking for it, had to get a little help from our son to transfer it to disc and I still have a copy, just in case.”

Kevin passed over a bunch of photographs, explaining that they had been taking photographs of their twin daughters a few days before Ryan had gone missing and in some of them the same woman was watching his home, Franky looked at the pictures nodding her head as Kevin handed another set over, telling her they were taken the same day Ryan went missing, once again the same woman was in the pictures. Bill looked a little sad, saying he wished he had something to pass on but he had seen the same woman in the street at different times of the day over the course of a week. Franky asked more questions referring to her notebook to make sure she could get as much information as possible. Two hours later she said she was sure that she had everything that she needed, passing out her business card saying that if any of them thought of something they thought may be of help not to hesitate to contact her, the rest of the neighbours left and Franky glanced at the clock on the wall, almost an hour until her next meeting. Grace asked Franky to stay until she was due to go to visit the Mitchell's,

“We saw you arriving in a taxi, no need to hang around on the street just trying to kill time,” Grace said, “Now can I interest you in a coffee or tea?”

“Thanks, a coffee would be great.”

Franky followed Grace to the kitchen sitting at the table and chatting with Tom and Grace, they told her a little more about Ryan, filling in a few more missing pieces. At almost 4pm Franky thanked them both for their hospitality and got up to leave, Tom walked her to the door.

“I really hope you are able to find out what happened, he was such a sweet child, not the type to just wonder off you know, no, not that type at all, he was always so happy.”

Franky said her goodbyes and headed over to the Mitchell's, Mr Mitchell was just getting out of his car as she approached the house. After a small exchange of pleasantries he invited her to accompany him inside. Both he and his wife said they too had seen the woman hanging around the day before Ryan had disappeared, they had also seen the car the day he vanished but they had only seen Ryan talking to someone, they were too far away to see who was inside, only they could tell her the make and model of the car. When Franky asked why they had never told the police this they were puzzled, they had reported the information to the police and expected them to contact them but they hadn't, Mr Mitchell had gone as far as to go to the local police station and tell the desk Sargent the details, but still nothing came of it. After an hour Franky thanked them both for their time and gave them her card before leaving. As she stood on the pavement she was about to call a taxi when Tom called over to her.

“Don't waste your money, I can give you a lift, I have to go out to pick up a few things for Grace.”

“Honestly I can get a taxi.”

“Nonsense, I won't hear of it.”

Getting in the passenger seat of Tom’s car Franky told him which hotel she was staying at and he drove off, dropping her off ten minutes later, she thanked him before she watched him drive away.  
She almost ran back up to her room, grabbing her bag and retrieving her lap top so she could watch the CCTV footage, watching it back twice she was stunned, there was five days worth of footage on the disc and the same woman showed up everyday, the James’s lived almost opposite Ryan's home and they had two sets of cameras on the front of their house giving them some good footage of what was going on out in the street. Tom had told her that he'd only had the cameras installed six months before Ryan went missing after someone had vandalised their front garden. Franky ripped some of the video and sent it straight over to Bea before calling her. Bea watched the videos Franky sent her while they were talking.

“Fuck Franky is this real?”

“I'd don't see how it's been faked, you can see the time and date stamps can't ya?”

“Course I can, fuck, now what do we do?”

“Get David to get a clear shot of her face in the morning when he gets there yer, then call Linda, I know she can get someone to run some facial recognition program on it, if she's in the system we’ll find out who she is pretty soon.”

“And if she's not?”

“Then we’ll have to convince some idiot cops out here in Sydney to put out an appeal for information leading to her identity or something.”

“Yer, I guess, hope we don't have to go down that route though. Shit before I forget David called that witness who moved to Brisbane, the one who saw the guy, she told him that the artist impression wasn't correct and even after she told the police they still showed it, but here's the kicker, one of the other neighbours also moved to Brisbane and they've kept in contact, well long story short he was trying out a new camera that day and guess what he has.”

“Fuck Red, you sayin’ they have a photograph of the guy?”

“Yes, well two actually, they should be here in the morning, turns out the cops weren't interested when they were told, so I guess we should run his face as well as long as their clear enough.”

“Yer, so Red I gotta go, I gotta call that detective who was the lead on the case I was gonna wait until the morning but I think after everything today I better do it now, try and see him tomorrow, I really don't wanna spend another night here.”

“Sure Franky, you just want to get home to Bridget, and we both know it, I'll talk to you tomorrow if we get anything.”

Franky called the retired detective and arranged to meet him at the homeless shelter at 10am the next morning. After calling Bridget and talking for over an hour Franky said she needed an early night after the early start she'd had. After hanging up she realized that she hadn't even thought about eating, finding the room service menu she ordered a light snack before jumping in the shower. Turning on the tv after her shower she lay on the bed, the knock on the door made her jump. After eating she turned off the tv, set her alarm for a reasonable time for the next morning sliding into bed she turned off the lamp drifting into a deep peaceful sleep a few minutes later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually can't wait to start writing the next chapter, not sure how long it will take or if it's going to be as long as this one but we shall see I guess.


	94. Chapter 94

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Franky's second day in Sydney, can she find out more information?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have got this posted yesterday but I got my lazy head on so I have had to finish the end of this chapter this morning, naturally for me at stupid o'clock.
> 
> Happy Easter to you all

The alarm sounding at 6:30am was to Franky's ears what a cheese grater would have been to her knuckles, the sound of it made her heart pound in her chest. She sat up grabbing her phone to turn the alarm off before dropping it back down. Waking up felt harsh, especially since her dream was a great deal better than reality, and the saddest part for Franky was that she knew eventually the memory of that dream would fade, never to be remembered. After getting out of bed for a few moments she couldn't even think why her eyes were open, her heart was still pounding and her mind empty. The memory of her planned morning soon returned and she started her day by taking a shower. After getting dressed and making sure she had everything she needed for the day she didn't really want to eat breakfast in the hotel, she needed some time to formulate questions she wanted to ask the retired detective, judging by the noise once again on the other side of her door staying in the hotel wasn't really a great idea if she wanted peace.

Leaving the hotel with no destination in mind Franky just started walking looking for somewhere that wouldn't be too busy to get something to eat, a while later she found herself right outside “Gloria's” again, looking through the window she could see that there were no customers, she'd enjoyed the food the previous morning and Gloria herself was very pleasant, maybe a little overly cheerful for Franky first thing in the morning but it was as good a place as any to eat and work out the most important questions she needed to ask. As soon as she closed the door behind her Gloria stepped out of the kitchen,

“Good morning, now don't tell me……….Franky isn't it?”

“Yer, ya got a good memory for names I'll give ya that,” Franky laughed.

“It's always good to get to know your customers, or at least remember their names, no Debbie this morning?”

“No, actually you just reminded me I need to call her before I leave.”

“Coffee?”

“Please I could really use one.”

Gloria disappeared from view again and Franky sat near the window, taking her notebook and a pen from her bag she stared out of the window for a minute until Gloria placed a mug of steaming coffee down on the table.

“Are you eating this morning?”

“Yer, I'm starving, can I have the same as yesterday?”

Gloria burst out laughing.

“If I didn't know better I'd swear Debbie was wearing a disguise, you sounded just like her then, I'll be back in a while with your breakfast, if you need anything else just give me a shout.”

Opening her notebook Franky began writing the first few questions she needed answering down before chewing on the end of her pen as she thought a little more, she doubted she was going to get the answers she was looking for, getting a straight answer out of retired Detective Mac Thomas would probably be as hard as getting anything convincing out of Greg Taylor. She wanted to be as nonchalant on the inside as she was on the outside. Franky had perfected her mask of always being calm and competent since she started working with Bea when it came to confronting people who didn't want to give up what they knew. On the outside she always presented as a person who was mature and capable, a complete professional. On the inside only the people who knew her best saw the same kid she once was, scared that one day someone would pull the rug out from under her again, tell her that all her ideas were worthless and that she had no talent for anything. She had always wanted to be the kind of person who had a rock hard centre, someone who was able to stand alone, someone who could attract people to her because she was strong. She knew too well that all it would take was a good jab at her foundation and that mask would fall revealing the abandoned child she still was on the inside, the child who still mourned for who she was before her dad left her with her abusive mum and her world crumbled like a house of cards. She had learnt that forever could be a frighteningly short time and that unconditional love was subject to the whims and addictions of a selfish parent, that information she knew she would carry with her for life, it had been burnt into her cerebral cortex, written in scars across her body. Gloria’s return to the table with her breakfast broke her out of her thoughts.

“There you go my love, I gave you some extra bacon just in case you don't have time for lunch.”

“That's quite possible, I only had coffee and a blueberry muffin yesterday,” Franky sighed.

“Well you know where I am if you're around at lunch time.”

“Yer, I might come back in before I have to leave, don't really want to eat at the hotel.”

“I'm guessing it must be hard work doing your job, may I?” Gloria pointed to the empty chair across from Franky.

She just nodded as she started to eat, the bacon she thought was even better than she remembered from the day before, or maybe it was just because she was really hungry.

“Gotta admit it's not the easiest of cases to be working on, and no one who should know the answers seems to have them.”

“Do you mind if I ask what it is you're investigating?”

“Not at all, another missing person, well this time its young boy who's been missing for six years now, the original police investigation was a mess and the private investigator who his parents hired is a waste of space.”

“Hmmm, well I don't know if it would be of any help to you but my son in law is a detective, maybe if you need another pair of eyes he would be willing to help you out, I've heard him say so many times over the years how bad things used to be handled.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you.”

Another customer entered the cafe and Gloria left Franky to finish her food and go back to her thoughts. Pushing the empty plate away from her she scribbled a few more things down in her note book before putting it back in her bag, getting Gloria's attention she paid for her meal before grabbing one of her cards out of her pocket and passing that onto her.

“Just in case you ever need help with anything,” Franky grinned at her before she got up to leave.

———————————————

Bea arrived early in the office, she wanted to watch the footage Franky sent her again, she couldn't help but think she had seen that woman's face before, Allie had called her out on it several times the previous evening because she was in a world of her own half the time. She'd eventually told her what Franky had found out and about the CCTV footage she had sent her. Allie had tried to get her to relax and not think about it as much but it was playing on her mind, she just knew she'd seen that woman before but she couldn't remember where.

She was sitting in her office with the door open watching the footage when she heard David and Liz enter the office laughing and joking with each other.

“Bea love why are you in so early? Did something happen?”

“Franky found out some useful information and she got some CCTV evidence that there had been a woman hanging around.”

David walked into Beas office eager to get on with what ever she needed him to do. She showed him the footage and told him what they needed then left him to it, he was way more clued up like Franky when it came to some of the more technical computer stuff, not that Bea really cared, she had tried to learn but had given in almost as soon as she had started, it just wasn't her thing so she was happy to let Franky handle that kind of thing, David was a life saver and she was going to speak to Franky when she was back in the office about them offering him some regular hours that fit around his studies, the way she looked at it three heads were much better than two, and as soon as he was qualified they were going to offer him a job anyway, keeping him around to give them extra help and for him extra training and experience while putting some extra dollars in his pocket could never be a bad thing.

David got the best clear full face image that was possible, printing off a couple of copies and saving it to a flash drive so it could be run through whatever facial recognition software was to be used. He was half way out of Beas office when a courier walked in, Bea signed for the envelope that he had passed her before tearing it open, just as promised two photographs of a man were inside, another piece to the puzzle that was slowly starting to unravel. She handed them to David and he hastily retreated back into Beas office to scan them and run them through the photo programme that they had installed on their computers, twenty minutes later he had printed off two copies of the best image and also saved it to the same flash drive.

“All done Bea, you want me to give Linda a call?”

“Between you and Franky you're not leaving much work for me to do,” Bea sniggered.

“You love it Bea, anyway I'll leave you to write up the report when and if we get an identification.”

“Should have know there'd be a catch.”

David called Linda who said she needed to make a call and that she'd call him straight back. A few minutes later Linda called David back and asked him to meet her outside St. Kinda Police Station letting him know that a detective she knew was more than happy to try and help out if he could, but it had to be done on the quiet, arranging to meet up in 45 minutes David hung up letting Bea know what was happening as he got ready to leave.

———————————————

After leaving the cafe Franky decided that she was going to walk over to the homeless shelter, it was warm, the sun was shining and she had plenty of time. She was worried, slightly afraid of this meeting, but she would never admit her fear, she knew that her level of fear at the present moment would be enough to induce paralysis in most people but she just carries on as if nothing is wrong, not one person in a thousand would spot her tension. She felt as though she could drown in the air surrounding her, people moved past her lost in their own heads as she was in hers. The children in the crowded streets would laugh, throw tantrums, cry or whine, their parents would react, placating, sometimes frustrated, sometimes warm. Yet not one single person noticed her, she could quite well be on the moon or just invisible but she was neither.

Franky is not the sum of her thoughts or her words, she is not the sum of her actions although her actions are always probably the fairest measure of who she really is. She is more than just flesh and bone, yet she feels so small in the vast expanse of the world, she is spirit but no more or less important than any other. She derives meaning within the personal relationships that she holds by the love she has for others and the love that they reflect back to her. She is one person, a simple human being, no more expert in figuring out the minds of strangers than a goldfish could figure out algebra.

As she neared the homeless shelter she couldn't help but wonder what Mac Thomas was all about. Some people simply say that there are good cops and bad, in Franky's mind she figured that's a total oversimplification. They are still human after all, they can be honest, courageous, corrupt, devious, malicious, altruistic, cunning or just stupid, and that was just her short list.

Mac Thomas sat waiting on a bench that was right outside the homeless shelter, the bench had been there for years exposed to the elements for so long that it now resembled driftwood, it's once fresh bright tones were now somber. He gazed at the people as they passed him by their faces becoming a sea right before his eyes, just a moving mass of nothing he wanted to focus on or care about. He knew this day would come, someone with more determination, greater strength than he had would start asking questions about Ryan Green and what was he going to say, flat out lie? No he knew he couldn't keep doing that, “the truth will out,” he thought to himself, better he finally tell the truth and try to salvage something from this mess than let someone else place all the blame right on his doorstep, his expression remained blank even though his face knew how to perform all the right gestures the passion behind them had long since abandoned him.

As Franky approached the shelter she spotted a man sitting on the bench, “gotta be him,” she said to herself, getting closer her eye's focused on him, sitting there in a black suit, white shirt and red tie, she shook her head, “the guy works in a homeless shelter and still dresses like a detective,” she mused to herself just before she came to a stop a couple of feet right in front of him. He looked up at her before rising to his feet, Franky studied him for a few moments, he carried his height with an easy self assurance but the light in his grey blue eyes seemed to be growing dim making him look more tired. The wrinkles that moved up his brow were like a battalion advancing to the front line and his hair, once almost black was now frosted with grey, but still thick and completely disciplined.

“Detective Thomas?” Franky questioned.

“Guilty, but as I'm now retired please just call me Mac.”

“Franky Doyle, we spoke on the phone.”

Mac nodded before asking her to follow him inside, glancing around at her surroundings it was hard not to notice the modern architecture of the buildings surrounding the shelter, the shelter itself looked like it could have been beamed in from some old fashioned horror movie. Franky hesitated slightly before she walked through the door into a corridor that was stuffy and had an undertone of bleach. The walls were magnolia and scraped in places, the floor slate grey, there were a few pictures on the walls all cheap benign prints of uplifting scenes, obviously someone's idea of trying to brighten the place up. She followed Mac through a door on the left into a room decorated in much the same way instantly noticing a battered old television set and the plastic chairs making it look as comfortable as a train station.

Mac sat on one of the chairs gesturing for her to do the same which she did, before she asked anything else she asked if he minded her recording their conversation, this threw him slightly off guard and he didn't answer for a minute or two, “this is it, tell the truth or suffer the consequences,” he thought to himself before he said that he was fine with her doing that. Franky took what she needed from her bag and began asking questions straight away.

“I have read the full police report on Ryan Greens disappearance, and I have to say that in the initial stages it does seem that you were taking it seriously, so can you tell me why so many witnesses were either never interviewed or re interviewed? Why were leads not followed up?”

Mac felt the lump rise in his throat and the air leave his lungs before he regained his composure and started to explain the events that had taken place. He had indeed made all the right moves in the beginning and he had briefed the other detectives and uniformed officers as to what he wanted them to do when some evidence came to light that rattled a few people, none more so than the then chief of police, the evidence that set the events in motion was nothing more than a simple photograph of a woman, he had never seen it, it disappeared long before it got to him, the only thing he was told was that the chief would not have them running around wasting time and resources on something that was not important. Mac had tried to protest but had got shut down and told to close the case down as soon as possible. After finding out who had collected the evidence that seemed to be the problem he spoke to the uniformed officer trying to find out what was so bad that the chief himself was trying to shut their enquiries down, he had been told that the photograph in question had been of none other than the chiefs step daughter, she had been in the area numerous times before Ryan had gone missing and that she had been in trouble with the police a year earlier but the officer did not know why. Mac convinced the officer that they had to get to the bottom of things and quickly, two days later the officer was killed in a hit and run. He had tried to keep the case going but he was fighting a loosing battle. Evidence went missing, he had budget restraints, all the uniformed officers were removed from the case and it all came back to the chief and his step daughter, he tried to do as much as he could with a couple of the other detectives without raising too much suspicion then they were suddenly transferred to other police stations. He went onto tell her that to him retirement had always been a four letter word, a month later at his appraisal the matter was raised, he was 52, could take his pension early, it was suggested to him that it was time to hand in his badge, why take the chance that he would not make it out alive.

“So you were more or less threatened?”

“I guess you could say that, I closed the case, not that I wanted to, not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about it, I'm sure we would have found him, in fact I'm sure he's still alive out there somewhere.”

“And where is the chief now, I'm guessing he's retired?”

“He did two months after I did, I didn't feel right staying in a job where I wasn't allowed to undertake a thorough investigation, but he's dead now, died six months ago. Do you think you can find out what happened?”

“We’re trying our best, got some CCTV footage, photographs and a great bunch of witness statements.”

“Can I ask, and I know I probably don't deserve to know the truth because I was weak, didn't stand up for what I believed in, but would you let me know what you find out?”

“After everything you have told me I reckon you deserve to know, we still have a long way to go that much I know, and the other private investigator who has been working on this case is a waste of space.”

“Other private investigator? You aren't the first?”

“No, Greg Taylor has been working on it on behalf of Ryan's parents.”

“Greg Taylor! Franky you have to be careful, he's the chiefs nephew, has he actually done any work? How did you ever get involved?”

Franky went on to explain the circumstances and Mac calmed down a little, he was still worried but relieved at the same time, finally Ryan might be found. Franky made her excuses and left Mac to the rest of his day deciding that she would try and catch up with Debbie before she had to leave, sending her a text hoping that she wouldn't disturb her studies, it was only just after 1pm and she didn't know if she would be in a lecture. She was hungry again now and “Gloria’s” seemed like a good place to head for.

Mac retreated to an office to complete some paperwork that he needed to do, he had found two of the homeless guys that had been going there for the last two years a safe and stable place to stay and was helping them find jobs, his job as an outreach worker was so much more satisfying, now he really could make a difference to someone, even if he did still have paperwork to complete. Looking up and out of the window he became lost in his own thoughts. As a child retirement was synonymous with death, it was that thing you did when you were too useless to work at a ‘real job’ when he found it forced upon him he started to see that it was all backwards. Retirement for him at least was when he got his life. He couldn't help but wish he'd had the courage to walk his own path, and looking back, now he had the time to think instead of working 16 hour days for the most part, his path had been like a bulldozer, nothing but wreckage had been left behind him. But he had always wanted to be a cop, just like his dad before him, he had signed up because he believed in public service. Throughout his career he had seen the worst of humanity on a daily basis and it had been a test, it tested his faith in the goodness of people, tested his natural optimism. He had been there when fire crews cut lifeless bodies from the mangled wrecks of their cars. He had been there when a beaten and bleeding wife had refused to press charges against her abusive husband. He had been there when families had to be notified of a loved ones tragic end. But he had also witnessed the fire crews run into burning buildings, witnessed paramedics pulling miracles from out of thin air, he'd witnessed emergency room nurses with their quick responses and the doctors who would take charge of the situations most people would run away screaming from. He was proud to have been a police officer, proud to have made detective. The day he handed his badge in was the hardest day of his life, but then he found something else, his new life as an outreach worker at the homeless shelter, he loved this job, being able to help, to give encouragement, to nurture the young who had ended up homeless and saw their lives as hopeless, he still made a difference just in a different way.

Franky had almost reached the cafe when she received a text from Debbie.

**Just got out of class, I'll meet you at Gloria's**

Stopping almost right outside the door of the cafe Franky couldn't stop the thoughts whizzing around her head, maybe Bea was right to have been unsettled about this case, it definitely was a mess, but a mess that needed sorting out. Shaking her head trying to shift the thoughts but she could not dislodge them, she needed to get rid of the thoughts for the time being anyway, for now she was just going to have to tuck them away deep inside, Debbie was on her way over to meet her for lunch, she was sure they could work out what was going on and what had actually happened to Ryan, but for now she needed to put on her happy face.

The second she stepped through the door Gloria spotted her, the cafe was a little busier but nowhere near full, she found a table so she could easily be seen when Debbie got there. She hadn't even spoken to Gloria but she walked over, mug of coffee in hand passing it straight to Franky.

“Don't tell me you're starving again.”

“Something like that, and Debbie's meeting me here.”

“Burger and fries, and what would you like?”

Franky looked puzzled for a few seconds until she realized that she was telling her what Debbie would order.

“Think I'll have the same, if Debbie likes it I'm sure it'll be great.”

Gloria smiled and was just leaving the table when Debbie walked through the door giving Franky a small wave before walking over to her and sitting down.

“Busy day?”

“You could say that, thought I'd better check up on you before I leave though.”

“Just so you can tell mum I'm eating properly yer?” Debbie giggled.

“Well shit Deb, I don't tell her everything ya know, and I don’t have to answer to her all the time.”

“Errr, yer you do on both counts, but it's fine I know she worries about me.”

While they waited for Gloria to return with their food they chatted, bouncing remarks between themselves like a kids rubber ball, they insulted each other often but that was the way it was with them. When Gloria returned with two plates in hand Franky was stunned when she saw the mountain of fries that accompanied the burger, Debbie just laughed when she saw the look on her face before she shoved a handful of fries into her mouth, making a contented noise in the back of her throat before biting into her burger. Franky's stomach growled just as she was taking a bite of her flamed grilled burger and she had to admit though it may not look like the best burger in the world it was one of the best she had ever tasted, she ate most of the burger before even trying the fries, as the soft crunchy texture of the fries brushed passed her lips, filling her mouth with their salty flavour she understood why this tired looking cafe was one of Debbie's favourite places to eat, the star of the show there was certainly the food. Debbie tried to protest once more as Franky paid for their meal, but it all fell on deaf ears as Franky ignored her. Finally going their separate ways Franky made her way back to the hotel to pack and check out, she had thought about calling Bea but she just wanted to get to the airport and get home, two days away had felt like a lifetime after the things she had heard and she was more than ready to leave Sydney behind for then at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try not to keep you all sitting on the edge of you're seats for too long.


	95. Chapter 95

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here you have it, chapter 95, I never thought in the beginning that this would end up right were it is now, I did want to finish this yesterday but I just couldn't, luckily I always wake up at stupid o'clock so got it finished.
> 
> And you have been warned the end of this chapter is NSFW.

Laying in her own bed With Bridget curled up into her side already asleep Franky couldn't stop the events of the past two days turning over in her mind, she needed to sleep and she knew it had to come but she would fight it with everything she had because she felt completely wired her whole body feeling like it was a mass of fiery sparks. She found herself longing for the defenceless hours to find her when she could be oblivious to both her surroundings and her thoughts, eventually the time finally came when she could not fight it anymore, her thoughts became intertwined with random ideas, impossible ideas, seeking shelter under the covers as she wrapped an arm around Bridget, it would be sometime until she would be conscious of the world again and sleep hit her instantaneously and was welcomed.

A few hours later an ominous boom startled Franky out of her abysmal nightmare, her body bathed in a cold sweat, the sheets twisted round her, she must have been moving around a great deal in her sleep and was surprised that Bridget was still sleeping. Her heart was pounding against her chest so much that she thought it would explode any second. She looked around the room it was still dark and the remnants of her nightmare were still clinging to her mind. Franky hadn't had a nightmare in months and now this case was playing with her mind, in her conscious brain she still could cling to the hope that Ryan was still alive as she slept her subconscious was free to do as it pleased, and it had. As she turned to look at Bridget the worst part of her nightmare seemed to hang in her head, she had found herself in a room Ryan lay on the floor lifeless, his blond hair stained with dried blood, his piercing blue eyes wide open. His clothes were bloody and he lay on his back, not three feet from the door in a pool of blood that was almost dry giving the room a sickly butchers shop odour. A flash of lightning illuminated the room in a blinding light and Franky buried her face into Bridget's neck as she trembled, she hadn't been afraid of a storm since she was a little girl, she swallowed hard as she once again turned her head to look into the endless darkness of their room.

The sound of the alarm drug Franky back to reality a while later, she had dozed off after laying awake for the better part of an hour listening to the thunder, her eyes tightly closed to try and block out the lightening every time it illuminated the room. She felt Bridget move beside her as she got out of bed and turned to look at her,

“You've had a bad night, why not call Bea and stay in bed a little longer?”

“Na Gidge I can't, I should have called her last night but I didn't want to disturb her, you know how she gets, she would have worried all night if I'd have told her what Mac Thomas told me.”

“I know baby but you're tired, you need to rest, I'm sure Bea wouldn't mind waiting a while longer for the details.”

“Ya know I can't do that, we’re in this together, and I did help convince her to take this on, gotta get my ass to the office early……shit I wonder if they identified the woman might not have been the chiefs step daughter after all.”

“Whatever you say baby, but at least stay here while I make breakfast.”

“Need a shower Gidge, you could always come and keep me company,” Franky grinned.

“Maybe later when I get home from work, I've got to be in in an hour.”

Franky lay in bed for another five minutes before heading for a shower, thankfully the memory of her nightmare was no longer playing on her mind too much, she didn't want to think about it either, she had to stay positive, put on her usual happy face and hope Bea didn't see straight through her for once.

When she left the house she looked up at the sky, a sky as grey as a coal miners handkerchief and it looked so low making her world feel so small and everything in it so close. The air was thick with the sweet smell of another fast approaching storm, nothing had a shadow everything was already encased in one huge shadow. She had just got in her car when the first drops of rain started to fall each drop splashing down without mercy. Puddles were still present from the previous storm and the rain now once again danced in them like watery sprites. Pulling out of the drive she set off in the direction of the office hoping to get there first, water splashing down on the car, hitting the windows as she drove onwards. The sky overhead was still a blanket of grey, so much so that she could barely tell the difference between the sky and the clouds. The rain always had a calming effect on Franky, as she drove she watched the raindrops race down the windows, the occasional wave of a puddle as she drove through it was relaxing, but she'd rather have been out in the puddles rather than stuck in the car.

As she pulled up outside the office she knew instantly that she was the first one there as there were no lights on and they would need them on, as she got out of the car lightening flashed overhead, like a serpent of brilliant light sent to bite the earth, then the sky shook with the loud cry of thunder. Once she got into the office she put the coffee on then went to make a start on writing up the statements she had got.

Half an hour later Liz walked in grumbling about the weather followed by Bea five minutes later noticing Franky in her office straight away since she had left the door open.

“Everything ok there Franky?” Bea asked as she leaned against the door frame.

“Sure Red, listen sorry I didn't call ya yesterday just wanted to get home.”

“No need to worry about it, Deb called and said she had lunch with you, she said you looked like you had a lot on your mind, want to tell me how it went?”

“Sure, if ya wanna get me a coffee.”

Bea pushed herself off the door frame turning sharply as she heard the door swing open and David walk in a huge smile on his face.

“What's got you looking so happy on a day like this?” Liz asked.

“We got identifications on both of them,” he beamed.

Franky had gone back to typing up the statements and as soon as she heard that she snapped her head away from her computer screen, pulling herself up from her chair she almost ran out of her office wanting to hear what else he was going to say, reaching the door in a matter of seconds.

“You got them both identified?” Franky asked worry evident in her voice.

“Sure did, Linda's detective friend called me last night asked me to meet him this morning, came straight here with the good news.”

Liz stood up from her chair, “why don't you three go and get comfortable in one of your offices and I'll bring you all coffee,” she suggested.

Franky turned and walked straight back into her office leaving Bea and David to follow her. When they were all seated in Franky's office the tree of them just looked at each other before Franky broke the silence recounting everything Mac Thomas had told her, Liz had been and gone with three mugs of coffee, closing the door quietly behind her just in case anyone came in. When the name of the chiefs step daughter spilled from Franky's mouth David almost choked on the mouthful of coffee he had just taken.

“Wait, what did you just say Jess Warner?”

“Yes she's the old chiefs step daughter, why?”

“Because that's who was on the CCTV.”

“And the guy, you said you got an identification for him, who is he?”

“His name is Jason Weston, got an arrest record as long as your arm.”

David pulled out an envelope from his inside jacket pocket and placed it down on the desk.

“All the information on them both is in there, but I can't stop to help today, got a class starting in 30 minutes so I need to run.”

After David left Franky continued what she had been saying, when she was finished she caught a fleeting stiffening of Beas face before she forced a weak smile.

“So do you want me to leave you to go through these arrest records or do you want me to do it? Bea asked hesitantly.

“I've still got to get all these statements finished, you read through them Red, but give me a holler if ya need me yer?”

Bea picked up the envelope and then the three empty mugs knowing that if it were left to Franky it was possible that she would leave them where they were for the next week, Franky always kept her office tidy, though Bea was never sure if that was mainly because if Liz saw a mess she would tidy it up resulting in Franky not being able to find what she was looking for, but the coffee mugs were different, she never moved them and strangely neither did Liz. Bea left Franky's office, deposited the mugs in the sink and went to her own office, closing the door behind her before she plopped down into her chair. As she sat staring at the envelope it suddenly hit her where she knew the woman from, the name hadn't meant much at the time Franky had first said it, Jess Warner, 7 years ago she had been accused of trying to kidnap a young boy, he had got away from her and thankfully had been returned to his parents the same day as he had disappeared. Now what Franky had told her made more sense, but could it really be possible that the chief of police at the time had covered up what she had done leaving Ryan's parents going out of their minds for the last six years? The truth would come out, but does that truth imprison you or set you free she wondered. One thing she knew for sure was that the truth can hurt, but the truth had to be found and she hoped that they weren't far from finding it because lives can't be changed without knowledge and the truth is knowledge even when it did hurt, truth is a strange notion it has to rely on perspective, and how can you separate the two?

Going back to what she should have been doing she opened the envelope taking out the contents looking at Jess Warners record first, her one and only arrest was as she suspected the attempted kidnapping. Jason Weston was a whole other ball game, numerous assaults, burglary, attempted robbery and attempted kidnapping, and there was the link between the two, he had been arrested alongside Jess Warner, his arrest record ended abruptly after Ryan went missing not one more arrest and she couldn't help but wonder if something had happened to him.

Franky finished typing up the statements making sure to print out copies, that was something she wouldn't usually do unless they were needed straight away for something but she figured they were going to be needed sooner rather than later in this case. The more they found out the more she knew that the police were going to have to be involved again and although she didn't have any contacts within the force in Sydney she knew how to get one, Gloria's son in law should be a safe bet if she wanted help. Finishing up what she was doing she turned her chair towards the window, the rain was still falling as if it was sent to wash everything away, like it was going to keep hammering down until everything smudged like a Monet masterpiece. It sounded like the heavens were knocking on the door, the roof and the windows, that day was just going to be one of inescapable wetness.

Franky turned back to her computer just as Bea walked back in to her office the arrest records still in hand.

“You going to try and track these two down Franky?”

“Course I am, why are you even asking?”

“I have a feeling that you're not going to find Jason Weston, after reading his arrest record you would think that even now he'd be getting arrested or that he'd be in prison but he seems to have dropped off the face of the earth.”

“Ya kidding right?”

“No, here look for yourself,” Bea said as she handed the papers over.

Franky studied the papers for a few minutes before looking back up.

“You think he could have helped her and then she got rid of him somehow?”

“Makes sense doesn't it? I mean you don't actually believe that he could have gone straight do you?”

“Putting it like that and now I've seen his record I guess I've got to agree with ya. I'll start tracing Jess first, here's hoping she's a little easier to track down.”

Bea left Franky to start searching after telling her that she was going out to get some lunch for the three of them, Franky had just nodded and kept her eyes oh the computer screen as her fingers tapped feverishly at her keyboard, Franky's keyboard had certainly seen better days its keys were now hopelessly clunky due to the amount of time she spent working on it, that constant tapping of her fingers against the keys was always annoying to Bea, and as soon as she felt that flash of annoyance she funnelled all her strength into her feet and used it to walk out of Franky's office keeping her mouth shut, in the long run she knew it was better that way.

Before she left the office Liz asked her to call in at the bakery that was on the corner, she wasn't going to argue with that. She went to the deli first for the sandwiches and called into the bakery on the way back, in the bakery the air was more delicious than any flavour. The aroma that surrounded Bea the second she stepped through the door was a mixture of everything good in there, the filter coffee, the various cakes and the Danish pastries. The blend is pure perfection, as she was trying to decide what to buy the thought occurred to her that a mixture of the flavours would be terrible, coffee, cake, pastry, ‘I don't think so somehow,’ she thought to herself. As she waited for the pastries she had ordered she looked around, it was the kind of place she could spend hours in just for the aromatic air, it really was a shame she couldn't just eat the aroma, that her palate was as sophisticated as her sense of smell.

She called to Franky to let her know she was back with lunch, the tapping of the keys stopped almost straight away and a tired looking Franky emerged from her office just as Liz placed two coffees down on the table in front of the chairs. Placing the bags down on the table Bea asked Liz if she would mind passing her a knife which she did as she walked back with her own coffee taking a seat at her desk. Instead of getting hers and Liz's usual chicken salad sandwiches she had got a foot long sub so stuffed with fillings that they were tumbling out of it as she ripped the bag open so she could cut it in half to share with Liz. Franky's was like some kind of Scooby Doo sandwich, but it was what she had asked for. It was filled with layers of cheese and ham alongside lettuce and tomato, oozing from the sides were copious amounts of mayonnaise. Looking at it as Franky ripped the bag open she couldn't help but think that you'd need a flip top head to eat it, either that or be able to dislocate your jaw like a snake. Liz was already enjoying her half of the sandwich, her face was a picture of bliss, she quickly polished it off savouring it to the last piece of lettuce, and then she scooped the dropped pieces off her paper napkin and devoured those too.

“Bea love that was delicious, I don't think I could eat another bite.”

“Yer me too Red, but what else have you got in that box?”

“Just some pastries, Liz asked me to call in at the bakery on the corner.”

“Shit, I love everything we get from there, maybe in an hour or two we can have another break, gotta get back to it.”

Franky drained her coffee mug before she stood up, just for once she left it in the sink before returning to her office, Bea was going to wash the mugs but Liz waved her away telling her that she would do it leaving Bea to go back to her office, as she got to her door she stopped and turned back to Franky's office.

“Franky I've got nothing much to do you want me to try tracing Jason Weston?”

“You sure Red, ya hate doing that stuff.”

“I do, but the quicker we can get it done the better, I might not find anything if my suspicions are correct.”

“Yer that's what worries me, go ahead Red, give it ya best shot.” Franky grinned at her as she handed over the paperwork they had on Jason.

Bea retreated back to her office and her computer, she focused on the task in hand, her curiosity building like a cat fixated on its prey. Leaning back in frustration Franky left a glittering bead of sweat trickle to down her forehead, since the rain had stopped and the grey sky overhead had rolled back to allow clear blue sky to become visible, the day was now picture postcard perfect, the sun hung in an unbroken backdrop of blue sky and the day had finally heated up. She stared at the contrasting white pixels against the black as if all the writing on the screen would any moment clog the gears of her mind, she held her breath to concentrate as if her life depended upon it. Her eyes combed the monitor in search of the information she needed, moving from side to side rapidly like the eyes of someone who was dreaming but she was wide awake. The only sound that could be heard coming from her stuffy office was the violent beating of her fingers against the keyboard. The air had the scent of coffee and hot electronics, the tension and suspense solidified until suddenly the the office fell silent as she scanned a page, “Got ya!” Franky shouted out in triumph as she had just found the most recent address for Jess Warner. Both Bea and Liz rushed into her office,

“The hell Franky?”

“Sorry Red, Liz, but I found her.”

“Shit Franky you scared the crap out of me.”

“How's your search going?”

“Not a single fucking sign of him over the last six years.”

“Well I think this calls for a coffee and a pastry don't you?” Liz said as she turned and walked out of the office.

“She’s right Red, and then if ya don't mind I'm gonna head off home.”

“No I don't mind at all, I think you could do with some time at home, actually think I might go home myself, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to find Jason anywhere.”

———————————————

When Bea entered the house the days events hit her, was that really the woman who had taken Ryan, she was certain it was, and after all Franky had told her it was too hard to think that anyone else could be behind his disappearance. She kicked off her shoes and went to the kitchen going straight to the fridge for a beer, they had done so much, come so far and now possibly they could do what no one else had been bothered to do, find Ryan. Downing the beer in one go she put the bottle on the counter and got another from the fridge, she stood looking out of the window, at first she had been wondering what to make for dinner then her thoughts turned to Debbie and a million different scenarios raced through her mind, she put the open bottle of beer down as couldn't stop the thought entering her head that she could have so easily have found herself in the same position years ago, and her thoughts turned to Ryan's parents and her heart broke for them. Her tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down her face, she could feel the muscles in her chin tremble like a small child's and she kept looking out of the window as if the sunlight that filtered through it could soothe her, she had static in her head once more, the side effect of which was a constant fear, constant stress that she thought she could never rid herself of. Her ears were filled with the sounds of her own sobs, like a distressed child, raw and full of emotion. Another case that she had agreed to take on that again was proving that it just had to take something out of her, she just didn't know if she had anymore left to give, ‘Why do I keep doing this to myself?’ She wondered in between sobs, every missing persons case was like a thief, it stole another part of her spirit leaving her with an injury that no one else could ever see.

The second Allie stepped through the front door she could hear the sobs coming from the kitchen, after kicking off her shoes and dropping her bag on the floor she quickly walked to the kitchen closing the distance between them, stopping behind Bea she put her hands on her shoulders but she wouldn't turn around and look at her. Allie moved her hands down from her shoulders to her waist and gently turned her around, Bea refused to lift her head and look at her. Raising a hand from her waist to her chin Allie gently tilted her chin upwards so she had no choice but to look at her, seeing the tears rolling down her cheeks Allie softly wiped them away.

“You can't keep letting these cases get to you sweetheart,” Allie whispered to her.

Bea still didn't say anything she just continued to look back at her. Allie dipped her head slightly and kissed her, the kiss was gentle at first but soon became passionate, breaking the kiss when the need for oxygen became overpowering. Bea raised her hand placing it against Allies face and rubbed her thumb against her cheek before she leaned in and captured her lips again. Allies hand found its way to the back of Beas neck and she deepened the kiss, breaking the kiss once more Bea looked at her and smiled before she grabbed Allies hand and pulled her through the house and up the stairs to the bedroom. After kicking the door shut Bea ran her hands down Allies sides and up under her shirt, raising her arms Allie let her pull her shirt over her head throwing it to one side then removing her bra before wrapping her arms around her as Bea leaned in and kissed her again. Breaking the kiss again Allie ran her hands through Beas hair and down her back grabbing the bottom of her shirt she pulled it over her head and dropped it on the floor before pulling her back in again for another kiss. Bea once more broke the kiss and looked at her.

“I shouldn't let it get to me so much should I?”

Allie looked into her eyes and smiled.

“You always will when it involves a young kid, that's who you are, I just hate to see you so upset, want to talk about it?”

“Maybe later.” Bea whispered.

Allie ran her hands once more down her sides and looped her fingers in the belt loops of her jeans, leaning in she kissed her neck, Bea closed her eyes and moaned as Allie slowly unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans pulling them down her legs, Bea stepped out of them and kicked them to the side. They stood looking at each other for a few seconds until Bea grabbed Allies hands and pulled her closer, their lips finding each other again they kissed passionately and slowly, savouring every moment. Breaking apart Bea put her hand on Allies cheek and Allie put her hand on top of hers.

“You really are so beautiful you know,” Bea said as she pulled Allie back to her wrapping her arms around her waist.

Allie put her arms around her neck and kissed her again as she backed her to the bed, the back of her knees hit the edge and she sat down pulling Allie down with her, laying back she pulled Allie so that Allie was laying on top of her. Allie kissed her neck and started working her way down her body but Bea stopped her and sat up, reaching around her she unclasped her bra and slowly removed it before tossing it across the room and sinking back onto the bed pulling Allie with her. Allie began kissing down her body again, running her hands up her sides as she kissed between her breasts, looking up at her Bea had her eyes closed and was breathing a little harder than before. Turning her attention back to her breasts she took one of her nipples into her mouth and started sucking and swirling her tongue around it while one of her hands moved to the other and slowly began massaging it. As Bea moaned Allie switched and began sucking on her other nipple, she stopped and Bea groaned at the loss of contact until Allie began kissing down her body, reaching the waistband of her panties she stopped again. Bea opened her eyes, picking her head up a little as she watched as Allie hooked her index fingers in the waistband and pulled them down, she lifted her hips and she pulled them the rest of the way off throwing them on the floor. Kissing her way back up her body they were once more face to face,

“God Bea, you're so beautiful.”

Allie smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her. Beas hands found their way down Allies body and in between them running her hands over her stomach to the waistband of her trousers she undid them, all the time they were still kissing. Allie broke the kiss long enough to stand up, slide her trousers down her legs and step out of them, Bea sat up sliding her hands into the waistband of her panties and pushed them down giving Allie just enough time to step out of them before she grabbed her hands as she lay back again pulling Allie back down on top of her moaning at the skin on skin contact. Bea pulled herself higher up the bed taking Allie with her before flipping them over and grinding her hips into Allies. Allie moaned and moved her hips along with Beas as she wrapped her arms around her pulling her closer trying to get as much contact as she possibly could. Bea kissed down Allies neck as Allie ran her fingers through her hair, suddenly stopping Allie looked up at her and was about to say something when Bea put a finger against her lips before moving down her body, as soon as Bea reached her destination between her thighs Allie lost all coherent thought patterns when she felt her push two fingers into her while her tongue found its way to her clit sending Allie into a trance of pleasure.

“Oh god Bea……fuck…..”

Bea knew she wouldn't last long and replaced her tongue with her thumb as she kissed her way back up her body gently biting one of her nipples that was all she needed to send her over the edge.

“Bea…..oh…..fuck, Bea…….I’m…….”

Bea didn't stop what she was doing for a few minutes until every single aftershock of her orgasm had died down and Allie lay breathless against the bed unable to think, unable to formulate a single word while Bea lay on her side holding her close. After a few minutes her breathing evened out and she turned her head capturing Beas mouth again, kissing her gently.

“Babe, that was…..I can't even think of the words to describe what that was.”

Allie turned on her side pushing Bea over onto her back running her hand over her as if she were trying to physically memorise every inch of skin she touched, every curve, her hand drifted to her breasts and she rolled one of her nipples between her thumb and forefinger causing Beas body to nearly jump off the bed as her head sunk further back into the pillow.

“Fuck Allie…….please.”

Allies hand continued its travels down her bare skin slowly until she reached where she knew she needed her most, she slid a finger over her clit.

“Allie,” she groaned.

She gently slid two fingers inside her building up a steady rhythm as she applied pressure to her clit with her thumb, Beas hips bucked up trying to get as much contact as she could, increasing her pace it wasn't long before Bea was flying over the edge moaning Allies name until her words melted into an incoherent jumble. She was swept up into a sensation of pure bliss, as if she could not only see and hear but also feel colours and sounds, with her eyes tightly closed she was convinced that she must have temporarily lost consciousness. When she finally opened her eyes again Allie was laying beside her tracing lazy patterns across her stomach, her head resting on her shoulder one leg resting over hers.

“You ok babe?” Allie mumbled against her neck.

“I'm better than ok Alliecat.”

“Want to come and shower with me then we can get something to eat.”

“Hmmm, sounds like a perfect idea babe.”

After a shower that took longer than it really should have they finally both had a sandwich before returning to bed, both sliding in under the covers and cuddling up close to one another. Falling asleep in each other's arms was a sweet release from the worries of the world, especially for Bea, in Allies arms she could escape, find relief, forget about the case and feel safe and loved once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so many ideas for the next few chapters, strangely I get more as I'm writing so have to keeps notes now otherwise I might forget what I was thinking, the twists and turns are seriously going to continue for a while.


	96. Chapter 96

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops another chapter that is partly NSFW

For the first few seconds when Bea opened her eyes she was oblivious to her concerns and worries of the previous day, the sun was rising in the sky and you can't fight the sun, she lay there enjoying the brief respite of time before everything came flooding back into the forefront of her mind. Her now wide open eyes looked over to Allie and for a few moments at least her mind drifted to a Rumi poem that she remembered,

“ _When you find yourself with the beloved, embracing for one breath, in that moment you will find your true destiny. Alas, don't spoil this precious moment. Moments like this are very, very rare._ ”

No sooner had it floated into her mind it left leaving her to lay in silence staring at Allie, she was her drug, one touch and she was intoxicated in an instant, whatever Allie wanted to do she would do it and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it, not that she really wanted to anyway. Just her scent was enough to send her into a heady trance, one that didn't end until their bodies were warm and snuggled in as close as two souls could be. As her thoughts of doom started creeping into her head once more she could feel her eyes getting watery and the hairs on the nape of her neck stood on end while a gaggle of goose pimples laminated her skin. She was scared, and she knew that Franky was also, she had seen it in her face the day before but chose to say nothing, the difference between them was that when Bea got scared she would do anything to survive and her thinking would become distorted. She knew deep down it was dumb to be scared but she couldn't help it, her problem was that she always overthought everything, big or small, she tried to convince herself that as long as they did their best that was all they could do, whatever will be will be in the end and nothing they could do would change that.

Pulling Allie in as close as she could she felt the calm wash over her, just being with her, holding her could always bring her mind, body and soul into sweet surrender. The alarm clock sounded and Bea tried to turn it off quickly before it woke Allie but she was too late as she turned back to face her her favourite blue eyes were looking back at her.

“You were already awake weren't you?”

“You got me, but I hadn't been awake long,” Bea mumbled as she lay close to her an arm draped over her waist.

“You going to tell me what got you so upset yesterday? It might make you feel better about facing today if you get it off your chest.”

Bea just nodded her head tightening her grip round her waist before she began telling her everything that Franky had told her and everything else they had found out. She told her her fears and how much it hurt her to think about what Ryan's parents must be going through, all the time Allie just listened, when she finished speaking Bea thought that any other sane person would have told her to shut up when she started rambling on about things that shouldn't matter, but not Allie, it was like Allie was able to silently tell her fears and panic to shut up because in that minute they were completely gone, she had no idea how she did it and in truth she didn't need to know, the fact that she could with absolutely no effort was enough.

“We need to get up Alliecat.”

“Just five more minutes please.”

“Five minutes, then I really need to get up.”

———————————————

Franky was the first one in the office again, not even bothering with the coffee she went straight to her office, knowing exactly how far Bea got with her search for Jason meant she didn't have to start all over again, by the time Liz and Bea arrived Franky had almost finished checking for any trace of him.

“Franky, two days in a row?”

“Yer well wanted to get an early start, almost finished off the trace on Jason and I really reckon he's vanished.”

“Didn't I say that yesterday?”

“Yer ya did but we still need the full trace.”

“Didn't put the the coffee on this morning Love I see?”

“Yer sorry bout that Liz, just wanted to get straight onto this.”

Franky went back to finish the trace and thirty minutes later it was just as they expected, there had been no sign of his existence for the past six years, Franky had noted all his old details and decided that it was worth checking up on his last known address the next time she was over in Sydney. Bea was in her office running a check on the old police chief, there had to be some reason other than that it was his step daughter who would have been a suspect in Ryan's disappearance for him wanting the case shutting down. There were pages and pages on him, and she scanned each one not sure what she was looking for but knowing that she would as soon as she found it. Franky appeared in her office doorway not saying a word until Bea finally looked up from her screen.

“You think he covered it up because he was in to something else too deep don't ya?”

“What?”

“The chief, come on Red it bothers ya yer? Remember I know ya too well.”

Bea sighed and slumped back in her chair suddenly remembering that she had wanted to speak to her about David but in that moment it didn't seem like the right time to bring it up.

“If he wasn't in over his head why cover it up. We both know how easy it can be to control the police, bribes, blackmail or just flat out corrupt them then they have no place to turn without falling into their own shit.”

“But why cover it up, how'd ya reckon it would have affected him if the truth came out?”

“Shit Franky how the hell am I supposed to know? The guy had a lengthy career, it's going to take forever to look into him.”

“David can help with that, and I think if you're looking into him then I should look into Greg Taylor, strange how his nephew was hired to look into the case, but then I can't figure out why he asked for help, he's gotta know we're the best at what we do, if he's hiding anything we’ll find out.”

Before Bea could say another word Franky turned on her heels and went back to her own office leaving Bea staring blankly at the spot she had just vacated. For the next three hours neither of them left their offices it was only Liz announcing loudly that it was lunch time and that they both better drag themselves away from their computers because she wasn't missing lunch and felt like going to the diner that they both realized that they were hungry.

The rest of the day went on in more or less the same way, the more Bea read the more the mountains upon mountains of pressure threatened to rip her to pieces, all the signs had been there for so long that the chief was covering things up, back in the days when he was just a detective he had busted a drugs gang only for the case to fall apart within a couple of weeks, evidence had disappeared, witnesses retracted their statements and the investigation was dropped. Bea sprang up out of her seat and went to Franky's office,

“Franky we need to check financial records.”

“Seriously? Who's?”

“The chiefs.”

Bea sat across from Franky explaining what she had just uncovered and why she thought looking into his finances was a good way to go.

“I'll get onto it for ya, shit Red how did this go from a missing kid to all out police corruption?”

“How do I know Franky, but it all ties in, just humour me ok?”

“I'm on it, chill would ya, this might not be the easiest thing to do, and ya know we can't use what I find as proof of anything, we gotta find someone who knew what was going on?”

They both spent longer than they had intended to that day in the office, at 6pm Liz told them she was going home for the day and said that they should both do the same, naturally they had both said they would until time ran away with itself and before either of them knew it it was 8pm and both their phones were ringing, Bridget and Allie both wanting to know why they were still in the office. A few minutes later they both rushed out of the office and headed home.

Bea quietly closed the front door behind her then locked it, silently kicking off her shoes and dropping her bag on the floor, “shit,” she thought to herself, “over 3 hours late, this never ends well.” Even though deep down she knew Allie was the exact opposite of Harry in her head she still couldn't help worry that one day she would do or say something wrong and she would snap and she knew she couldn't go through that again. The memory was as fresh as if it had been happening yesterday, slowly walking to the living room her thoughts getting the better of her, Harry's temper some days was like a slow burning fuse, there was no problem while there was more left to burn, but then it would always be the same she would make some stupid mistake, every time she opened her mouth he just got angrier, everything she did was wrong, “that's not how you're meant to stack the dish washer, you don't clean the house properly, don't fold the clothes in the right way.” She would just swallow her retort and do things the way he wanted it done, smile and move on, but that only ever made it worse. He would feel empowered, he would micromanage every tiny aspect of her life that he possibly could, everything done the way he wanted it doing, then he would explode, catching her by surprise, and the end result would leave her shattered and vulnerable. On days when he had been drinking his temper was like dynamite, once it was lit there was no time to run for cover. In the end his temper was more the latter. Stopping just inches from where Allie was sitting slumped on the sofa watching tv, glass of wine in her hand, she could feel her heart beat, every single beat turning into a pounding in her ears.

Allie felt she was being watched and slowly turned her head, it took a second or two for the information her eyes were giving her to sink in, even though Bea was stood right in front of her, larger than life. Her slight smile turned into a massive grin, her eyes lit up and sparkled in the low light that came from the lamp, “finally she's made it home,” was her only thought as she placed the glass down on the coffee table and got to her feet.

“Let's get you something to eat and you can tell me about your day,” Allie said as she smiled at her and reached her hand out to take Beas.  
Bea looked away, clenching and unclenching her free hand into a fist. She rolled her shoulders forward and looked down at there joined hands, fear still bubbling in her chest not that she would let it show.

“Come on, it just needs reheating.”

Allie tugged gently on her hand, judging by the way she was stood she was expecting it to feel as if she was tugging on an unmovable rock, she was surprised but relieved when Bea allowed her to lead her into the kitchen. Every nerve in Beas body felt as if it were tingling but she was still in control of her emotions. Allie pulled out a chair for her telling her to sit down while she got her food, stopping to grab her a beer from the fridge while she waited on it warming up, she passed her the bottle before bending down and kissing her on the head.

“I missed you.”

Beas heart felt as if it were doing a tango in her chest, that was as much as it took to calm her down and make her forget the awful thoughts that had been spinning through her mind not so long ago. Now though she felt as if her heart could dance the light fantastic without so much as a single note from an orchestra. But it's only a heart, human and so frail, she could only assume that it is love that makes her heart so strong. She'd never wanted much, just someone who would love her who she could love in return, and she did get her wish, Allie was her smile, her only one, and she loved her so much.

Allie placed the plate down in front of Bea,

“And don't think of arguing, just eat, I wont be a sec.”

She disappeared into the living room just long enough to pick her glass up and returned to the kitchen sitting across the table from Bea watching her eat.

“Don't think for one second that I'm not a little pissed off at you for being so late, you could have called, but still, tell me what made you so late.”

Bea carried on eating not even knowing where to start as she watched her take a sip from her glass. She could just dismiss it and say she wasn't paying attention to the time which was part of the truth but she decided that being honest was always the best thing to be with Allie, finishing her food quickly she pushed the plate to the side before she began. She skimmed over parts that weren't that important but made sure to try and make her understand why she lost track of time.

“Babe that sounds like things are going to get serious again, and I don't want you making yourself ill because you're working too much, you need to try and get home earlier than you did today, and you need to call me when you're going to be late.”

“I know, and I'm sorry, next time I think I'm going to get caught up with something I'll set the alarm on my phone.”

Allie drained her glass, stood up and removed the plate from the table leaving it in the sink with her glass. Walking back over to Beas side she took her hand and tugged it encouraging her to stand, leading her through the house as she turned the lights and tv off, gently pulling her upstairs to the bedroom, closing the door behind them Bea could have laughed as Allie was doing almost exactly what she had done the previous evening and she knew where this was going. Allie pulled her closer and kissed her deeply, pulling apart she she raised her hands to her cheeks and they both smiled at each other. Bea ran her hands up Allies shirt and pulled it over her head dropping it to the floor surprised a little when she wasn't wearing a bra, Allies hands went to the hem of Beas shirt pulling it up and guiding it over her head. Reaching around behind her she unclasped her bra allowing it to fall free down her arms and drop to the floor. Allie took her by the hands and pulled her over to the bed, slowly guiding her onto it and laying her down. Beas chest heaved and her head was pressed hard into the pillow as Allie sucked on one nipple, teasing it with her tongue before trailing her tongue over to her other nipple. The soft moan that left Beas lips only motivated Allie more to continue her assault on the gorgeous body beside her, skin contact was important as Allie found her way to lie on top of Bea, Bea brought her arms round to rest on Allies back, holding her close as they kissed with fervour.

“You taste so good,” Bea mumbled before she flipped them over.

They kissed again, even though it was getting late time was unimportant, being close to each other was the only thing at the forefront of either of their minds. Beas hands roamed slowly over her body as they continued kissing. A low moan escaping Allie let Bea know straight away what she wanted and she moved her hand down to her jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping them, inching them slowly down and off allowing them to fall to the floor before trailing her fingers over her thighs before hooking her fingers under the the waistband of her panties and pulling them off throwing them across the room not caring where they landed. Bea sat back on her heals looking down on her.

“You look good enough to eat,” Bea whispered as she lay back down beside her.

“Bea, babe…..please just kiss me,” Allie whimpered.

They continued their long and passionate kissing as Bea trailed her fingers down Allies body, Allie knew exactly what she was going to do, Bea glided her fingers easily through Allies wet folds slipping two fingers gently inside her eliciting a moan from Allie that only served to urge her on.

“Bea, babe…….”

Bea watched her as her head arched back further into the pillow and her face slightly flushed.

She pulled her fingers out, earning her a groan from Allie, only to slip three fingers back in moving her thumb to stroke her hardened clit. She kept up a steady rhythm as Allie began to breath more heavily, a low moan coming from her throat. Her moans became louder as Bea quickened her pace knowing that she wasn't going to last much longer, finally curling her fingers just as Allie flew over the edge moaning and calling Beas name over and over as she rode out her massive orgasm, its intensity was hard to bear as wave after wave of pleasure hit her. Bea slowed her movements until she withdrew her fingers completely, minutes passed as the mad beating of Allies heart slowed back to its normal steady rhythm, and her heavy breathing returned to normal, Bea lay beside her, resting on her elbow her other arm resting over Allies stomach.

“You're so beautiful,” Bea whispered.

The smile on Beas face was the first thing Allie saw as she opened her eyes, Allie smiled back,

“Mind telling me how this is fair? I'm naked and you're still half dressed.”

Bea jumped off the bed, stripping herself of her remaining clothes before laying back on the bed beside her.

“Better now?”

“Hmmmm, much.”

Allie rolled her over onto her back and straddled her, staring straight into her deep mahogany eyes,

“I want you babe, so much that I think it hurts.” Allie said as she leaned in closer.

“Yer.” Bea purred, lifting her head from the pillow to catch her lips and drew her down into a hot, wet kiss. It felt like an age before they broke apart and Allie whispered in her ear,

“I want to kiss you everywhere.”

Allie kissed down her neck, over her collar bone and across her chest, kissing further down she lingered at her breasts licking and sucking her nipples before kissing her way down her body stopping at the inside of her thigh she looked up to see the heaving of Beas chest, the chemistry between them was was something special, unique. Allie moved further down kissing down her legs making Bea wait longer, taking her time she she kissed her way back up her inner thigh until Bea couldn't bear it any longer.

“Allie, please.” Bea struggled to get her words out.

Allie pushed her legs further apart, settling herself down more comfortably her tongue lightly licked her clit, the groan that left Beas mouth was so deep that even she thought it must have come from someone else. Bea writhed in ecstasy as Allie began sucking and licking her clit with long measured strokes, sensing her heightening desire Allie inserted two fingers into her opening and Bea gasped at the sudden intense feeling, she moved her fingers slowly building up the rhythm, driving Bea insane, she didn't know what to do with her hands anymore, grabbing the sheets as she felt her orgasm building. Allie was so tender and rough at the same time and it was enough to send her over the edge. A few minutes later Allie crawled back up her body and kissed her with everything she had, Beas body was still shaking and she was sweating profusely. Looking into her eyes Bea couldn't help but smile. Allie rolled off her and pulled her onto her side, they lay there looking into each other eyes, Allie loved Beas eyes, even when she couldn't look into them all she had to do was close her own and she could see them, brown and rich as the earth, stained with the colour of hot chocolate on a cold winters night wrapping around her like a blanket, engulfing her in their warmth making her feel like she was at home, her deep pools of dark cinnamon swirls seize the depth and heaviness of a thousand untold stories.

Pulling her in close Allie wanted to hold her and never let her go, take all her worries away and make her feel safe.

“You need to get some sleep babe.”

“Hmmmmm,” Bea just hummed back at her

“We need to get into bed Bea, we'll  freeze if we stay right here.”

“Yer, I know.”

Allie kissed her on the nose before wriggling out of her embrace to brush their teeth, Bea following her a couple of minutes later before they both slipped under the covers once more pulling each other close. Allie was soon asleep, her head resting on Beas shoulder. Bea couldn't sleep, she found herself in a futile tussle with her conflicting thoughts. She didn't want to sleep, she had spent a little over ten hours at work and she wasn't ready to wake up in the morning to rise and repeat, although she wasn't planning on working for so long the next day. A voice in her head chastised her, she knew the longer she lay in bed sleeping the more chance she had of tomorrow being better. She knew too well that if she had six hours or sixty she would still wake up just as exhausted as she felt right then, she'd stumble around in the bathroom, manage a quick shower, then put on the wrong clothes causing Allie to laugh at her, she'd leave the milk on the counter and not be able to find her car keys. She wondered if she was the only one who was suffering with sleeplessness or if it was just the price she had to pay for the job she had chosen to do, “tired until I retire,” she mumbled to herself as she snuggled in closer to Allie closing her eyes and willing herself to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I get another chapter finished before the end of the week I ask myself? I'm going to try anyway


	97. Chapter 97

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised one more chapter for this week.

Bea and Franky arrived at the office almost at the same time, both of them a little late, neither of them caring, the sky was cloudless and the sun shone bright and warm. As they walked into the office they both stopped dead in their tracks seeing Greg Taylor sat in one of the chairs chatting to Liz. Both of their faces fell faster than a corpse wearing cement boots, in the very instant Franky laid eyes on him her face greyed, her mouth hung open slightly and her eyes were as wide as they could stretch. Greg suddenly stopped talking as he saw the looks on their faces, his brain tingled like a hand that had been sat on for too long. Pulling himself up from the chair he turned to face them both,

“I know you weren't expecting to see me but I think we need to talk, I need to explain a few things to both of you, I really should have told you when I asked you to help but I didn't think.”

Franky glared at him for a few seconds before Bea elbowed her lightly.

“If ya’ve come to tell us more crap then don't bother, we know who ya are, we know about ya uncle, if ya trying to get us to drop this now then forget it, we'll get to the bottom of this on our own.” Franky half snarled at him.

“Please, just hear me out, it's complicated for me, I took on the case not knowing anything, I found out the same things you both have, maybe more than you've got right now, I need to set this straight. Mac Thomas paid me a visit, explained a few things to me, made me see what I had been missing.”

“We should hear what he's got to say Franky,” Bea sighed.

Franky just looked at her with a raised eyebrow for a few moments before walking in the direction of her office, she knew she had to stay away from black and white thinking, that always ended with her thoughts becoming trapped in one direction, even the grey scales, depending on the situation could be dangerous, and this was looking like one of those situations, Bea of course was right they really should hear what he had to say but Franky was sure just the sound of his voice would make her even more angry than she already felt. Almost falling into her chair she knew she had to sort out her thoughts, they had to be, as always in her job, guided by empathy and compassion, but right now she could not see how she could have either for Greg Taylor, he was a liar, the very first time they had met him the lies had slipped out, so smooth and easy like melted butter running down a piece of toast. The biggest lies came when she had seen him in Sydney, now they left her in shock and awe, his lies rooted her to the ground in fear and the primal side of her brain began to do the thinking. She was now in survival mode and her higher thinking became muzzled, the concepts she prided herself in, charity and cooperation, were just mere whispers amongst the anxious screams inside her head. Like Bea and the rest of their friends though she was never one to judge and weigh others by any scale, she believed fiercely that by doing that you only stunted your own intelligence, any idiot can condemn another person, a bigger person will listen, become aware of the whole situation and move on from there.

She wanted to, needed to push the negatives out of her head, but how does anyone do that when it's seems like there are three other entities sitting at the meeting table in your brain? One is negative, the dark demon, with a loud booming voice that advises you against the move you are contemplating, “because you will fail, look like a fool, stay were you are and maybe no one will notice how stupid you really are.” The second was like bright sunlight, if sunlight had a voice, “you've got the ability to do this, it's full steam ahead and I'll see you on the winners podium.” The third voice is the lazy one, the one that's retired to the sofa and is currently laying down, “listen kid, it's going to take a lot out of you, too much time and effort, so why bother? Just sit back and take it easy, after all you're not getting out of this life alive.” It was a decision only she could make and still she couldn't work out what she was going to do.

“Franky…….Franky……earth to Franky!”

“Huh, Red…..what?”

“You going to sit in here all day?”

“He's just gonna tell us more lies, don't need to be listening to that crap.”

“Listen a wise woman once told me that you don't have to see the whole staircase you just have take the first step, just listen to him for five minutes, if it sounds like bullshit we ask him to leave.”

“Yer…..we could always call Booms and get her to kick him out instead.” Franky said bursting into a fit of laughter.

“We could do that….so?”

“Ok Red ya win I'll be in in a minute.”

Once back in her office Bea sat back in her chair looking over at Greg, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips as he sat looking towards the window, “if this guy has ever known failure in his life he doesn't let it show,” Bea thought to herself. Everything about him from the way he held himself, the way he spoke to the look of unassailable confidence in his eyes said he could do anything he put his mind to. They sat in silence for five minutes before Franky appeared, pulling the empty chair that was next to Greg round to the other side of the desk to sit next to Bea. Greg kept his face neutral but he was still a little too smug for Franky's liking, clearing her threat she spoke with a coldness that Bea had never heard in her voice before.

“You better be here to tell the truth, we won't be made fools of, trust me we've dealt with much worse than anything you can hide from us and if it means bringing you down then so be it.”

Franky was already at the breaking point of her patience, and sitting looking at him she felt blinded by a five course serving of anger that tasted bitter yet surprisingly satisfying. The rage she felt had all the power of a wildfire, anyone paying attention would practically be able to see the flames roaring in her eyes ready to ignite anything she came into contact with. Greg looked at them both as he hung his head a little longer not wanting to make eye contact with either of them.

“All I can do is apologise, you must know by now but the old chief was my uncle, only by marriage, he married my aunt and in all honesty I never really liked him. I didn't know anything, when Ryan's parents came to me I had no idea what I was about to uncover, finding out that a well respected member of your family was the most corrupt cop on the entire force isn't something anyone wants to find out. It turns out that when he was a detective he was bribed to lose the evidence in the drugs case he was working on, as the years went on he became more involved, he had made evidence disappear, sabotaged surveillance operations, and as I hear it even had a few witnesses either scared off of just gotten rid of. Then Jess met one of the gang he was working for, she had no idea at first who he was and she ended up in a brief relationship with him, that was how she became aware of her step fathers involvement. When she was arrested on her first set of kidnapping charges she threatened him, said she would tell everything she knew, and although she knew very little of his association it scared the shit out of him, the evidence in that case was suddenly lost. When Ryan went missing it was obvious that she was behind it, and in all honesty I'm not sure what she did that time but as you know the evidence was lost, a cop lost his life, two detectives were transferred and Mac Thomas was forced into retirement. Jess went missing as fast as Ryan did, and it took me months to trace her after I started working on the case, I'm just not as good as you Franky. Jason disappeared, I've never found a trace of him and I suspect neither of you have either. Even after he retired he still had influence on the force and he could still get things done. Have you found his financials yet?”

“Fuck…..why didn't ya just tell us the truth in the beginning?”

“It's family, would either of you want to be the person who sent a family member to prison and drag another name through the dirt? I just couldn't do it, so I did my research, you two are the best I could find, and even though I knew it was a long shot I had to convince you to help, I knew you could find everything out for yourselves, sure it makes me look like an incompetent idiot but at least the rest of my family can't blame me.”

“So where are we meant to go from here, and no we didn't get his financial records yet.”

“You need to keep working on the case if you're willing to,” Greg slid a folder across the desk to Franky.

“And what's that?”

“His financial records, I'm sure you can put everything together with that, you'll need to come back to Sydney sooner rather than later and I have a friend on the force who's willing to help you, they're trying to weed out the corrupt cops that are still left and he's a good guy, if you do come back please don't mention this to Erica, she doesn't know about any of this.”

Bea stood up and walked to the door opening it,

“We'll be in touch Mr Taylor, I think we need to discuss this between ourselves.”

“Of course, I'm staying in Melbourne until Sunday night, you have my number.”

Greg left the office without another word to either of them, Bea sat back down, that morning had broken with the sweet melody of birdsong, full of promise and freshness, now it sat like a mug of coffee that had been left to go cold and was waiting to be poured away. Franky could no longer sit down, her legs were on fire and her arms needed to move, the fire in her legs carried on building like the energy in a compressed spring. The inkiness of her mind only created yet more demons both real and fictitious as her breathing became more erratic, reminding her that she still had work to do, deadlines for various things that needed to be accomplished both near and far away in the future demanding that she apportion time to each task, but she didn't want to, couldn't think what she was even meant to be doing that day. Bea sat and watched Franky as she paced the floor pretty sure that if she didn't stop soon the floor might give way under her feet. As she watched her her eyes were full of gentle concern, getting up from her seat she slowly approached Franky, laying a hand lightly on her shoulder, instead of flinching like she usually would it seemed to soothe her. Leaving her hand where it was she spoke with the softest voice,

“I know you can't control what you're feeling but it will pass, you just have to take your time and breath, we can work this out together.”

Franky felt her words calm her more, maybe it was more by the way they were said to her than the actual words, it felt as if she had instantly been wrapped in a blanket of caring. Her breath seemed to stutter in her lungs before she let it go feeling the tension start to drain from her body as she did, her breathing began to return to normal and she knew they could face any problems that would arise. She turned to look at Bea, saw the look on her face and she knew she needed to consider her actions because she could see how profoundly they were also effecting Bea. Liz knocked gently on the door, opening it slowly and popping her head in,

“Should I go to the deli and fetch lunch or do you fancy going to the diner?”

Bea shrugged her shoulders and looked at Franky who thought for a few seconds.

“Ya know what, I think we should get out of here for a while, and the walk might do me good,” Franky said with a sigh.

The three of them left the office, Franky walked more slowly than was usual for her, her movements almost robotic as if her brain was struggling to actually tell her feet to take another step. As she walked Franky looked down at her feet watching as she took every step across the pavement, her dusty black converse next to the perfectly polished black leather boots that Bea wore. Reaching the diner the three of them found a table in a quiet corner, Liz ordered a sandwich, Bea ordered a slice of pizza, Franky insisted that she wasn't hungry and only wanted coffee but Bea knew as soon as she saw her pizza she'd change her mind so ordered another slice. As soon as the food arrived Franky's appetite made a miraculous return, the pizza was pizzeria perfect, there were herbs in the dough, the sauce had chunks of tomato and the topping was three cheeses, there really was nowhere else in the world that sold pizza like they had in the diner, and as Franky had said even if anyone else did make their pizza the same way it could never be as good.

“Are you feeling better now love?” Liz enquired as she looked at Franky.

“I guess…..ya know it's hard to believe that guy is even the same species as the rest of the human race, I mean he's got the same shell and he can be quite charming but I reckon his wiring is all screwed up.”

“Not sure I would want to have to turn in one of my own family,” Bea said wearing a serious expression.

“No? They may be his family but look at what it's cost Ryan's parents, he could have grown a backbone months ago and put an end to their pain, he's a coward Red, and being a coward is the worst thing you can be, for yourself and for others around ya. A coward will sacrifice anything to save themselves, if I ever go off the rails and murder someone and ya knew what I'd done I'd expect ya to turn me in not cover it up and hope it goes away, or let someone else do the dirty work for ya.”

Franky's words packed a powerful punch, they were carefully spoken without the hint of drama, yet they had an air of finality to them and no matter what Bea or Liz wanted to say they knew she was right and they couldn't argue with her. Silence had descended between the three of them before Bea had an idea.

“Why don't we all go out for a meal tonight?”

“Sure Red where were ya thinking?”

“No idea really, we could invite David along and get his opinion.”

“Yer, hey about David, I was thinking we should give him some regular work, nothing major so it won't interfere with his studies.”

Bea started laughing and Franky frowned at her.

“So you don't think it's a good idea?”

“It's not that Franky, I had the same thought while you were in Sydney, after you got back I just never found the right time to speak to you about it.”

“That's settled then, I'll give him a call When we get back to the office.”

“So……are we going to continue working on this or do you want me to carry on without you? I mean I'm sure David will still help if you feel you need to step back.”

Franky looked thoughtful as she sat back in her seat, Bea was more like a sister to her than a best friend, they had been through so much together over the years, each and every time Franky had a problem or was upset she'd offer her a spot on the sofa and a beer, they'd sit in silence or watch tv until she was ready to talk about it. She'd always listen without judgement and never said a word until she'd poured her heart out. Then and only then she'd put her beer down, look her in the eye and give her the advice that the big sister she'd never had would. She never took the piss out of her, she'd give her a big kick up the ass when she needed it and not once had she ever told a soul even the smallest of hints about what they had discussed, she was a black hole for whatever Franky told her, her best friend and one of a kind. Being friends meant taking the good times with the bad, it meant standing by each other in times of heartbreak, helping to ease the pain, seeing each other at their worst. In whatever stormy sea the other was going through they would not only climb into each other's boat to just be there for them, they would become the boat. She looked between Bea and Liz and thought of Boomer and Maxine, they had all been through hell in one way or another, Bea was the one who would ride with her all the way, Liz would always be there when she was called, and Boomer and Maxine would gladly come when called and stay for as long as she needed, four true friends, and Franky would run through fire for anyone of them, she knew she was luckier than most.

“I've always had your back Red, I might be angry with that fucking prick but you know I won't leave you to finish this alone, we started it together and we'll finish this together.”

“Even if we fail, or the outcome ain't great?”

“No matter what Red, were in this together…now let's stop all this mushy crap and get back to work yer?

“Whatever you say Franky, we both know there's a big sook hidden in there screaming to get out,” Bea laughed.

Back in the office neither of them were overly keen to do anymore work on the case, neither of them had even looked at the financial records Greg had left for them, after an hour they were sat with Liz chatting about the case, they never wanted Liz leaving out, unless of course something would be really upsetting, they had no secrets, that was the way it worked best.

“I was thinking,” Franky suddenly exclaimed.

“Slow down there Franky, too much thinking might be dangerous to your health,” Bea quickly hit back.

“Piss off Red, seriously, we could go to that new restaurant that opened a couple of weeks ago, ya know that all ya can eat place, ya don't need a reservation.”

“Sounds like a good idea, what do you think Liz?”

“Why are you asking me love, I don't mind, honestly being included is enough for me.”

“Liz, ya know we love ya right? We value ya opinion ya know?”

“Course I know that and I think it sounds like a great idea, so who is going?”

“Think we should ask Booms and Maxi Red?”

“Sure, you call David and I'll call the salon.”

  
After making the calls everything was arranged for 7pm and they went back to chatting and drinking coffee.

“What if we fail Franky?”

“With the case ya mean? I think we both know it's ok to fail, so many people are afraid of failure that they don't even bother to try, but we always try. We never join the lines of people who believe they aren't capable of achieving what they want to do. It's difficult but nothing is impossible, if ya believe ya can do it then ya can, we always try to do our best, and even if we do fail, isn't it just another stepping stone to build on.”

“Yer I guess, come on let's get out of here.”

“Fuck yer, I don't telling twice.”

A few hours later everyone arrived a the restaurant and were seated at two tables that were side by side. As everyone went to join the queue to get food Franky and Bea pulled David to one side so they could ask him about him working for them in between his studies. David stared at them both as if one of them had just pulled an elephant from their pocket, the sparks in his brain were desperately trying to connect the dots but instead seemed to short circuit his brain for a minute or two. His expression was one of bewilderment and excitement, he wanted to say yes but his mouth had gone so dry he couldn't get a single word out.

“You only have to say yes or no,” Franky said as she nudged him in the ribs.

“I think we've scared him Franky.”

David shook his head, taking the few steps back to the table to get his beer and finishing it.

“I'd love to, but are you both really sure, I mean Ive only just started the basics.”

“That's the point, you get to gain experience, and of course we'll pay you, but you know when your qualified we want you to come and work for us so we thought that you could start part time while your at college, it's good to have an extra body around the place.”

“Then yes thank you, both of you.”

“So that's settled, now come on let's get some food before Booms and Allie eat the whole lot.”

As they stood in the queue eyeing up all the different foods that were set out Franky had to resist the urge to push past everyone in front of her so that she could reach what she wanted most, the closer she got it seemed the queue of people slowed down even more. By the time she finally managed to fill her plate she thought that she actually did hate the person who had been in front of her, she devised a cleaver way to pile food onto her plate so she could fit as much as possible onto it even though she knew the chances were that she would be back for seconds. After carefully making her way back to the table she ate with very few breaths in between mouthfuls,

“Slow down Franky, honestly Bridget we did feed her at lunch time.” Bea joked.

“She gets like this sometimes, but looking at Allie I'd say their both going to be going for seconds.”

Bea turned her head to look at Allie who was busy stuffing her face and chatting with Boomer in between mouthfuls and she couldn't help but smile. She loved evenings like this the only thing missing was Debbie but she tried not to think about that too much, she was surrounded by the people who were closest to her, and she loved them all, no matter what scrapes they found themselves in, what problems they had, they stood by each other they were one big family, maybe a little dysfunctional at times but she knew it was was all she ever needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Depending on my level of concentration I know I can guarantee at least one chapter next week, but I'm aiming at two at least.


	98. Chapter 98

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bea and Franky head back to Sydney.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has taken me a little longer to write than I would have liked but it's finished now, enjoy!

_A week later….._

“For fuck sake Red will ya but blondie down and hurry the fuck up we got a plane to catch if ya remember.”

“Fuck off Franky.”

Bea gave Allie one more quick kiss on her cheek before picking up her bags and walking to Bridget's car putting them in the boot, Franky slammed it shut and got back in the passenger seat of the car.

“You make sure you stay safe alright, and stay away from any hot women you run into,” Allie giggled.

“You have no need to worry about that,” Bea said shaking her head and laughing, “you know I only have eyes for you.”

Getting into the backseat Bea only just closed the door when Bridget took off towards the airport.

“You sure you want to do this Red?”

“You said we were in this together last week and we are, I just hope nothing comes up in the office that Liz and David can't handle.”

“They'll be ok, Liz knows how to handle things and David won't take anything on without calling one of us.”

As they neared the airport the traffic was grinding to a halt as they neared some roadworks, Franky sat in the passenger seat impatiently tapping her foot and grumbling,

“You gotta be fuckin kiddin me, if we miss this flight I'm gonna…..”

“Franky calm down, we left in plenty of time we won't miss it,” Bea sighed.

Reaching the airport Franky said goodbye to Bridget before they made their way inside, People were lined up at the check in desks with suitcases and bags, the few children that were stood in line with their parents were either constantly talking, whining or trying to get away from the hand that was holding theirs to find something more exciting to do. Finding their check in desk quickly they soon found themselves in the departure lounge, in the background soft music was playing, deciding that a coffee was needed Bea found a seat as Franky went to get them. There was a curious mixture of bored and excited looking people, Bea studied the scene in front of her, some looked like they could have been waiting for a bus, some looked like they were overgrown children waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve, some lounged on the comfortable seats as they waited for their flights to be called while others stood around bouncing on their toes.

Franky returned a couple of minutes later, taking a seat across from Bea she slid her coffee over to her,

“So we gonna spend the next couple of hours going over this file?”

“Not much else to do is there?”

“Na, guess not, tell me you didn't book some fancy hotel, ya know I can't stand that shit.”

“Oh, well I seem to remember you saying Bridget was flying over on Thursday, you want to stay in a dump?”

“Ahhh, didn't think of that, it's not going to bother ya her being there is it?”

“Why would it, she's got a few days off work, who wants to stay home alone if they don't have to?”

“I just thought, ya know, with you and Allie having to spend the week apart it might bother ya.”

“Are you feeling alright, you never use Allies name, you need a doctor?”

“Fuck off Red!”

They finished their coffees just before their flight was called for boarding, once on the plane they found their seats and discussed what they were going to do, they both knew they were meeting a detective from Mac Thomas’s old station but that was all they knew about him.

“You think they will actually take this seriously this time Franky?”

“Since that detective called us I'd fucking hope so, no point dragging us to Sydney if they aren't interested, even so if they don't want to reopen the case we'll be there, we can do some more nosing around, we got an address for Jess.”

“Didn't think of that.”

After going over everything they had in the file they were convinced that they had everything in order, the last few minutes of the flight was spent in silence. After getting their bags Bea went to pick up the car she had already booked, Franky went to wait outside as Bea made her way over to the car rentals desk in terminal two. A few minutes later Bea pulled up in the black BMW X5 M50d that she had hired.

“You going all out on this trip or what? We ain't on vacation ya know!”

“I was thinking that we don't know how much time we're going to be spending in the car so I figured we'd need to be comfortable but if you don't want to be comfortable you can stick with using taxis.”

“Na Red, I can handle comfort.”

After Franky threw her bags on the back seat and got in they took off in the direction of the hotel, as they drove along they both saw the black clouds sprawling across the sky, draining the colour from buildings and trees leaving their surroundings tinted bronze in the faltering sunlight. The air grew heavy, the scent of rain was heady and dark as a stillness fell over the world outside the car, through the almost complete silence came a low crack of thunder rolling high above the rooftops as the first raindrops began to fall, just for that moment it was as if everything stopped as if even the wind were holding its breath. The car tires made their monotonous hiss as they rolled over the now wet road as a streak of hot silver lit up the dark sky and the downpour really began. Franky lent forward in her seat fiddling with the radio until she found a station playing the most popular music filling their ears and slightly drowning out the drumming of the rain on the roof of the car. Sinking back in to the soft leather of her seat she closed her eyes feeling the gentle rise and fall of the road beneath them, she couldn't imagine what was in store for them and she hoped that things wouldn't take a bad turn, this ride, this car, this meeting they had with a detective surly they couldn't lead them to something that could lead them into more trouble than they needed.

Parking up in the car park of the hotel Bea switched off the engine and unclipped her seatbelt before she looked over at Franky who was still sat with her eyes closed.

“You asleep?”

“Na…..just thinking,” Franky answered as she popped her eyes open.

“Well let's make a move and get inside before the rain gets worse again.”

Getting out they grabbed their bags and headed for the doors of the hotel, the gentle pitter patter of the light rain creating a shield around them, they both loved the rain, the silver puddles on the ground before them created an obstacle course that they both had to battle if they wanted to keep their feet dry. Once inside the lobby they both stopped for a second taking in their surroundings,

“Shit Red I'm surprised this place didn't have a doorman, now I feel so out of place.” Franky whispered not wanting to speak any louder for fear of being overheard.

“Just enjoy it for what it is will you,” Bea answered with a smile.

The lobby floor was tiled in marble, making every step they took echo, the chandelier’s overhead made rainbow colours dance around the lobby. Three expensive looking sofas were set out surrounding a large flat screen television that was softly playing away to no one. The doors that lead into the lobby were pristine mahogany double glass and panel doors, fitted with a full transform over them, the glass dressed with specially manufactured custom grills and golden handles. The desk was made of the same mahogany wood with a black granite top, exquisite paintings hung on the rich red walls. Walking up to the front desk they were greeted by the desk clerk with a big smile and a cheery hello, after going through the normal hotel checks the clerk informed them of all the hotel amenities they were given their room keys and asked if they needed any help with their bags, something that they both declined.

“Admit it Red you made sure our rooms were right next to each other's cos ya want me,” Franky chuckled as they entered the elevator.

“In your dreams Doyle,” Bea threw back.

“Oh so you dream about me? I always knew it.”

“Piss off Franky, it's easier if we aren't separated by a mile of corridor.”

“Geez Red I'm just messin wi ya, chill would ya!”

When they reached their rooms they agreed to stay in the hotel and have dinner in the restaurant, they had an early meeting with the detective at 8am and just wanted to rest for the remainder of the day. Opening her room door Bea walked in closing the door behind her and walking over to the bed dropping her bags down on the bed before looking around her room properly, she couldn't help but smile when she thought how much Allie would love staying there. It was one of the most luxurious hotel rooms she'd ever been in, it was huge and barely looked like a hotel room at all, more like a guest room in a palace somewhere in the world. The king sized bed had pure white Egyptian cotton sheets, the kind of brilliant white that would even make a fresh fall of snow look grey. There was a huge desk in one corner, a sprawling chocolate brown leather sofa set in front of a fifty inch flat screen tv and in the other corner the mini bar. The floor to ceiling windows gave her a great view over the city and the French doors led to her own private balcony. The floor bore all the characteristic hues of American walnut, and was way more beautiful than the highly manufactured wooden floors she had seen so many times. The walls were painted cream, Bea noticed the hue of beach sand in it and the curtains where white linen stretched right to the floor and billowed a little as a slight breeze came through an open window. After kicking off her boots she slipped out of her jacket laying it over the back of the sofa before laying on the bed to call Allie. After a couple of rings Allie answered,

“Everything ok there babe? You arrived safe?”

“If I hadn't I doubt I'd be calling you, I'm sorry I had to leave today, I know how much you look forward to Sunday.”

“Yer I do….but I understand why you had to go, doesn't mean I like it but I understand,” Allie sighed.

After almost an hour on the phone Bea promised to call her again before she went to bed, checking the time they still had another hour before they would even think about going for dinner and since Franky hadn't banged on her door yet she guessed that she was probably doing the same thing as she had just been doing. Grabbing her bag from the bed she decided that she had better hang her clothes up, they were there for a week and just leaving them wasn't really an option. After spending a few minutes sorting her clothes out she wanted a shower before dinner so she headed to the bathroom stopping on the way to look a painting that hung on the wall, the tone of it was muted, the style reminiscent of a Monet, each stroke had a smudged quality that rendered the image watery like the reflection in a rippled puddle. The scene in the painting, she guessed it must be somewhere in London, a street full of umbrella bearing pedestrians trying to battle against the rain as a red double decker bus and black cab rumbled past. Finally turning her attention away from the painting she went to the bathroom, she could hardly believe her eyes, not only was there an offset quadrant single door shower enclosure there was also a contemporary free standing double ended bathtub that looked very stylish with its clean curved lines against the backdrop of marble and handcrafted tiles.

Forty five minutes later there was a loud knocking on her door, guessing it was a Franky she didn't rush to the door, the knocking started again right before she got to the door and she could hear Franky on the other side,

“Hey Red, you fallen asleep?”

Opening the door she stepped aside to let Franky in,

“What took ya so long?”

“I didn't know we were in a hurry.”

“Na we ain't but ya know I'm kinda getting hungry.”

Bea pulled her boots on and they headed down to the restaurant, when they reached the restaurant it was already quite busy but they were shown to their table almost straight away. As soon as they sat down Franky observed their surroundings, the waiters catching her eye almost instantly, their black uniforms neatly ironed and tucked in, the ties round their necks looked suffocating like they had a python wound round their necks. She watched them as they moved between the tables hurriedly to complete all the tasks they had to do in the limited amount of time they had to do them in. A waiter approached their table menus in hand,

“Good evening ladies, could i interest you in the wine list?”

Bea looked over at Franky who just shook her head,

“Waters fine.”

He handed them each a menu and shuffled off to fetch a fresh jug of iced water, returning a couple of minutes later, filling their glasses and placing the jug down before asking if they were ready to order, Franky said they would need a few more minutes and he retreated. After spending another few minutes pondering over the menu they both decided what they wanted and Franky caught the waiters attention telling him they were both having the steak, he gathered up the menus from them and quickly disappeared.

“Blondie still alright with ya being away all week?”

“What makes you think she liked the idea from the start?”

“Gidge ain't happy either, but then I'm luckier than you, she already had a few days booked off, can't see Will giving her anymore time off right now even if she begged.”

“Yer, tell me something I don't know already would you?”

“Sorry Red, I did tell ya not to come with me, coulda handled it by myself.”

“I know you could, I trust you Franky you know I do, I…I just needed to be here.”

There conversation trailed off for a few moments when the waiter returned with their food. Asking if they needed anything else before leaving the table when they both said they were fine. They ate in almost complete silence, Bea had started to worry about what the next day might bring and Franky was feeling slightly guilty about Bridget flying over on Thursday when an idea came to her, finishing her meal quickly she made an excuse to go back to her room leaving Bea perplexed as to her sudden departure.

Franky couldn't wait for the elevator and ran up the two flights of stairs back to her room, sitting down on the sofa she grabbed her phone from her pocket looking through her contacts until she found the number she was looking for and hitting dial.

“Franky?….have you dialled the wrong number?”

“Na blondie its you I need to speak to.”

“Is everything ok, has something happened to Bea?”

“Calm down will ya, she's still eating dinner, she's fine. Listen I know it's a long shot but how about you try and sort something out with Will so ya can fly over to Sydney with Gidge on Thursday?”

“Guess I could call him and try and work something out, I could work extra shifts, why did you even think of this right now?”

“I don't know, Bea said ya wouldn't be able to get time off, but fuck, she's gonna be nightmare without seeing ya all week.”

“And?”

“Ok, ok, I kinda feel guilty for telling Gidge she could come over, besides she's gonna be bored in the hotel all day by herself and you two could spend some time, I don't know, shopping or whatever it is you like to do while we're out.”

“Hmmmm, yer, let me call Will and I'll text you back.”

“Make it snappy blondie, speak to ya later yer.”

After hanging up she heard a light tapping on her door, she didn't need two guesses to know who it was and went to answer the door straight away.

“Everything alright Franky?”

“Yer Red, I just remembered a call I needed to make, but it's all good now, ya wanna come in?”

“Think I'm just going to get ready for bed and watch tv for a while, need a good nights sleep ready for tomorrow.”

“Sure Red, after you've spent an hour on the phone….ya wanna eat here or at that cafe Deb loves in the morning?”

“Can we decide in the morning?”

“Whatever, its all good, see ya in the morning then…..night Red.”

“Yer night Franky.”

Bea went back to her room, sinking down into the sofa she pulled off her boots dropping them on the floor allowing them to just fall where ever they landed. Leaning over to the small side table she grabbed the remote for the tv and switched it on, flicking through the channels until she found something that she wanted to watch, pulling her legs up onto the sofa she stretched out as her eyes were drawn to the window. The sky was becoming increasingly dark and low with sinister black clouds as the wind picked up howling like a wolf into the night, the first flash of bright silver lightening lit up the sky and a few seconds later the deep rolling boom of thunder reverberated over the buildings as the rain began to fall for the second time that day, it was slow to start, splattering the pavements haphazardly. It wasn't long before it looked as if it were falling from buckets, cascading down to earth like a waterfall from the heavens above. Getting up she closed the window leaving it only just slightly ajar before going to the bathroom to freshen up, brush her teeth and get ready for bed.

Franky was laying on her bed watching the rain falling outside the window where she heard her phone chime signalling a text message, picking it up and seeing it was from Allie she opened the message straight away.

**Spoke to Will he's fine with me working extra shifts so I'll see you on Thursday, don't tell Bea will you?**

She laughed to herself before answering her.

**Don't worry blondie my lips are sealed, see you Thursday**

Bea turned on a lamp at the side of the bed before switching the tv off and going to lay on the bed to call Allie, after an hour and a half on the phone they both yawned making Allie giggle before they said their goodnights and hung up. Setting the alarm on her phone she plugged it into charge before getting into bed and turning off the lamp. After what seemed like forever she eventually fell asleep, she'd been convinced that having to sleep alone wouldn't really bother her but she missed having Allies warm body pressed up against hers, she thought of calling her again but after checking the time she'd decided against it.

It was still dark when she woke up, looking towards the window she could see the gentle waves of rain tapping on the window as if it were playing soft music to her, getting out of bed to close the curtains she looked out of the window her eyes drawn to the streetlight across the street watching the rain for a while as the rain drops painted their own picture around the glowing light. Lightening suddenly flashed across the night sky looking like a rip in the inky blanket above, a few seconds later thunder rolled out across the malicious sky, the untamed powerful rumble echoed through the city landscape. Getting back into bed after she finally closed the curtains she softly sunk into the mattress, closing her eyes thinking of how storms always somehow reminded her of fire. The dark grey clouds were like the ash and soot while the lightening was like the memory of the fire that burned bright for a while then slowly went out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should get another chapter finished this week, especially since the weather forecast once again is rain and more rain ☔️


	99. Chapter 99

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank god for stupid o'clock.  
> I had intended to get this chapter finished yesterday but my mind went blank, nothing new there.

Bea slowly opened her eyes trying to adjust to the orange glow of the morning light that was all too visible through the curtains, after the storm of the previous night this was a perfect sunrise, reminding her for a few seconds of the times that her and Debbie had slept in her car down by the beach after a bad night with Harry, she could almost picture watching the ocean emerge under the golden shimmer, in her mind she could conjure up the rhythmic sound of the waves, so soft and gentle as they rolled into the sandy shore and she could feel her heart beat to the same pace. This morning was different, there was nothing to run from and everything to run headlong into, sitting up she suddenly felt cold and lonely, she missed Waking up to Allie next to her, missed her arm wrapped around her and she missed the smell of her. Picking up her phone she had woken up before the alarm, before turning it off she sent a text to Allie,

**Good morning beautiful, I missed you when I woke up xx**

After getting out of bed she turned on the tv, it was too quiet, even the birds outside her window didn't seem to singing their normal happy chorus, before she made a start on getting ready for the day ahead. After showering and getting dressed she heard her phone chime, smiling to herself as she picked it up seeing Allies name.

**Good morning gorgeous, I missed you too. Good luck with your meeting this morning xx**

After making sure she had everything she left her room and knocked on a Franky's door, surprised when it swung open so quickly.

“Mornin Red, sleep well?”

“I guess, you?”

“Could have been better, that fuckin storm woke me up.”

“Oh yer, I know all about that, so breakfast eat here or out?”

“Out! This place is great an all but, Gloria's is so much friendlier.”

Grabbing her bag she checked its contents to make sure she hadn't left anything out that she would need before following Bea to the elevator. Since they would be going straight over to the police station after breakfast they took the car, finding a place to park near the cafe they got out and headed inside to be greeted by the ever cheerful Gloria,

“Franky, back so soon, it's nice to see you again.”

“Hey, mornin Gloria, this is Bea, Debs mum.”

“Blimey!….if I didn't know better I'd have thought they were sisters, it's nice to meet you, Debbie talks about you all the time.”

“All bad I presume?”

“Not at all, now take a seat and I'll be over with coffee in a moment and you can decide what you'd like for breakfast.”

Bea looked around, it was like another world and just as Franky had described it to her, she could just imagine Debbie sitting there with a huge plate of food in front of her and that made her smile. The door opened and closed and she heard a man speak,

“Ma, you here?”

Gloria reappeared with two mugs of coffee in hand,

“Course I'm here Paul, what brings you here at this hour?”

“Got a meeting at 8am with two private investigators from Melbourne, didn't have time for breakfast at home, and ya love me right, you'll feed me?”

“Private investigators is it? You mean like those two over there?”

“Huh?”

Gloria waked over to the table that Bea and Franky were sitting at putting their coffee mugs down closely followed by Paul, he couldn't believe that the people he would be meeting would actually be sitting in his mother in laws cafe.

“Paul this is Franky and Bea.”

“Well I'm stunned, Franky Doyle and Bea Smith?” He questioned

“That's us,” Franky responded with a smirk.

“Detective Paul Martin, but just call me Paul, can I?” He said pointing at an empty seat.

“Yer sure, wasn't expecting to meet you in here.” Franky laughed.

“Small world I guess, ma told me about you after your last trip over here, pity we didn't get a chance to meet then.”

Gloria watched on as they chatted, not wanting to disturb them she went to the kitchen returning ten minutes later with three plates of food.

“Hope you don't mind I took a chance and since Debbie and Franky both have the same breakfast I've gone with that for you all.”

“Ahhh, Gloria ya spoilin me again.” Franky said when she saw the amount of bacon on the plates.

“Don't mention it, and since you're working with Paul here it's on the house.”

Both Bea and Franky quickly protested but Gloria would hear none of it, seeing they were fighting a losing battle they gave in and just thanked her before returning to the conversation they had been having with Paul. He filled in a few blanks for them, the chief had been under investigation for a couple of years but no solid evidence had ever come to light, not until an arrest had been made on serious drug smuggling charges and the whole house of cards had started to fall down, the chief did still have connections on the force that much was true but not as many as he thought, and he couldn't get the charges dropped, his connections were getting nervous knowing that one foot wrong and they would be under investigation resulting in them losing their jobs and in some cases more than likely looking at prison time. It had all come to a head on the guys first appearance in court, the chief had been threatened that his part in every coverup would be made public if he didn't get the charges dropped, he knew it was the end of the line and had gone to his lakeside holiday home the day before he and his wife were due to go and taken an overdose, that was where she had found him the next night when she arrived. After they finished their breakfast they agreed that the best place to carry on their conversation was the police station. They all thanked Gloria again for their breakfast and hurried off.

Arriving at the station they were shown to Paul's office who excused himself saying he needed to get a file, returning a minute or two later with a couple of thick files under his arm, he threw them down on his desk before taking a seat.

“What's all that?” Franky asked.

“The original Ryan Green file, and my investigation into the ex chief of police, now I know you aren't interested in the latter but I believe they are tied to each other, and i know you could more than likely find out what happened to Ryan without my help, but if this runs as deep as I think it might then you'll need help.”

“And what do you want from us?” Bea questioned.

“Nothing, I want his case cleared up and no doubt you have plenty to go on, I suggest we discuss what needs doing next.”

The next three hours flew by as they discussed everything they had found, when it got to the issue of visiting the last known address for Jess Paul was hesitant, he didn't want them going alone, as he explained from the background he had on her she could be very volatile, he excused himself at the point in the conversation saying he needed a word with his boss.

“Ya think he does want to close the case Red?”

“Seems genuine enough to me, it can't help to finish hearing what he has to say.”

They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Paul returned with another detective in tow.

“Ladies, this is Detective Chris Davis, he's going to be helping us, and you will be pleased to know that my boss has given me the go ahead to do anything that needs to be done on the understanding that you don't go anywhere near Jess Warner without one or both of us with you, one he doesn't want either of you getting hurt and two if arrests need to be made we'll be right there.”

“Sounds fair to me.” Bea said as Franky just nodded.

“Thats settled then, so I was thinking that maybe we should check out the last address either of us have for Jason Weston, I doubt we'll find anything but it's worth a shot.”

Glancing at his watch Paul suggested that they grab lunch in the canteen and go over what they would do that afternoon. They both agreed and followed him, Detective Davis following behind. Once they got their lunch the four of them sat in the far corner of the canteen away from everyone else that was milling around. Paul came to the agreement with them that he would travel with Bea in their car and Franky would travel with ‘Davis’ Bea had no problem with that she wasn't quite sure what to make of him he hadn't been very talkative up to that point and as soon as he'd cleared his lunch tray away he had disappeared. Paul had obviously picked up on Beas apprehensiveness and tried to put her mind at ease.

“You'll have to excuse Davis, and god never call him anything but that, he's the kind of detective you'd swear was born wearing a suite. I'm not sure he was even born, maybe hatched,” he laughed making Franky laugh along with him. “He's very serious when it comes to the job, I'm sure it's all he lives for, everything with him is black and white, right or wrong, legal or illegal but he's great at chasing down the criminals and his paperwork is always perfect. He's always been clean cut and the joke round the office is that he must have had a humour bypass, but if you want efficiency he's definitely our man for the job.”

“Right, so he'll have our backs?”

“That he will, and when it comes to speaking to a suspect he always asks them the perfect questions at the perfect time with such an innocent tone of voice, he gets many leads that way. And he notices the smallest details, I once worked a case with him and he was stuck on a footprint that he said was going the wrong way, in the end that one simple detail saved an innocent person being arrested. No detail is too small for him and he closes case after case with successful convictions that can never be questioned.”

Davis reappeared car keys in hand and the four of them left the building, Bea and Paul drove away in the direction of Redfern, Franky and Davis following close behind. Franky took the time on the drive over to try and work out the detective sitting beside her, he had the standard issue white face of a cop who took his job too seriously and never did anything that wasn't work related, he had square shoulders and an even squarer chin. Nothing really stood out about him except that he didn't speak a great deal, sitting back in her seat Franky just stared out of the window. Bea and Paul had chatted for most of the drive over mainly about how they had become involved in the Ryan Green case. Pulling up outside the address they had they could tell that no one had been near the place in years, after getting out of the cars they stood together for a few minutes,

“He owned this place right?” Franky asked Bea.

“According to the records he did, if he's been here he hasn't taken care of the place.”

Entering the house it was overly apparent that no one had been there, sections of the ceiling were hanging limp in the stagnant air, fragments of plaster lay on the long untrodden floor, their only purpose now was to soak up the rain that freely entered the property. Water had seeped through the window frames that were now rotten and blistered, the only residents of the house now were the spiders, many generations had laced the walls with cobwebs, most of them though now lay as dusty rags. If their assumptions were correct it had been six years since a single footstep had echoed within the walls of the house, since the day Jason had himself disappeared. Finding the kitchen Franky opened one of the cupboard doors, it looked like a time warp of long forgotten brands that even she barely remembered. In every room they checked lay artefacts of a life that had been lived were everywhere and had either been abandoned or taken away.

Exiting the property they found a couple of people standing around apparently waiting to find out who was in the house, Paul motioned to Davis and he wondered away from the group to talk to the inquisitive neighbours, he returned a few minutes later informing them that they had seen some strange things happening around the property around the time Jason disappeared.

“Are they willing to give statements?”

“Yer, they said that almost everyone who lived here around the time he disappeared still live here, although most of them will be out at work right now, got a list of the neighbours who were here then.”

“You and Franky want to make a start on going door to door then, think we should check out the garden and the garage.”

Franky agreed and trailed along behind Davis, she was used to asking questions and wanted to find out just how good Davis was, Paul may have sung his praises but she wasn't sure he could be that good.

Bea and Paul’s attention was first turned to the derelict looking garage to the side of the house, the old metal door had certainly seen better days, the black paint that it had once been painted with had peeled away leaving it at the mercy of the elements and was now mostly a rusty mess. After spending ten minutes wrestling with the door they managed to get it open, peering inside they were confronted with a stack of boxes, the boxes at the front all had worn edges and split corners completely covered in dust. Moving further inside through the small pathway that had been left they looked at the other boxes not wanting to touch any, the further back they got the bigger the boxes were, reaching the back where the roof had collapsed every box was soggy with rain water and some were starting to fall apart.

“Not too much we can do in here Bea, although I'd love to actually know what is in all this.”

“I think I saw a shed out back, not sure we can get round there though it looks a little overgrown.”

Carefully making their way round to the back of the house, it was a mess, a broken birdbath, planks had fallen out of the rotting fence, waist high grass and weeds lay around and in front of them as they tried to get closer to the garden shed. Bea almost fell over a broken plant pot as she made her way through the thick overgrowth, passing a crumbling statue and a rusty motorbike she guessed that the garden had once been cared for until the owner of the house had disappeared. The door to the shed was hanging off its hinges giving them easy access, it was full from top to bottom with gardening tools, paint cans and spare parts, among them something caught Beas eye, looking more closely she was sure she felt her heart stop beating for a few seconds as the light from the filthy window glinted on the steel barrel of a revolver that was just sitting there. She pointed it out to Paul who had had his back to her. Bea walked out of the damp musty shed leaving Paul behind making her way further into the garden when something caught her eye at the back of the shed, the weeds there were quite thick but it was unmistakable what it was. The Crown of a skull was poking out above the soil, heavy rain had no doubt washed the earth away that was previously covering it and as no one had been that far into the garden in some time it had never been found.

“Paul I think you need to see this,” Bea called out.

Making his way over to where she was stood he looked at her and she just nodded her head in the direction she wanted him to look,

“Shit….i need to call this in and get the SOCO down here, come on we need to find Davis.”

After reaching the front of the house the spotted Franky and Davis exiting a house across the street, Paul beckoned to them and they came over. The second Paul had finished telling them what they had found Davis got straight onto the station, informing them of what they had found.

“They be here in 30 minutes tops,” Davis said in his flat tone.

25 minutes later the area was buzzing with uniformed officers and scene of crime officers, the house was cordoned off and the neighbours were all either looking out of their windows, standing at their front doors or as close to the house as they could possibly get. Paul suggested that Bea and Franky should take off for the day, there was nothing either of them could do, it was completely in the hands of the police and they both agreed, whatever had happened there someone had wanted their secret to stay buried, the heavy rain and shallow grave had finally going to revealed something no matter who it was, Paul said he would call them later after he managed to get away from the scene.

———————————————

Allie had been pleased when she had called Will the previous evening, one of the assistant bar managers had called in sick and Will had been worried that he had no one to cover until Allie had called him asking if she could possibly work extra shifts Monday through Wednesday and take Thursday through Saturday off so she could fly to Sydney, he had agreed straight away knowing that that gave him plenty of time to arrange cover for Allie, of course he knew Shayne would pick up any extra hours that were offered, he was a good kid and could always use the extra money. Allie had struggled to sleep that night, even after hearing Beas voice it hadn't helped. Now she found herself very much awake at 3am the darkness swirling around her as she lay in an empty bed, silence echoing in her ears, the sound of her own breathing was a constant white noise that she couldn't block out. She hated it, being alone in the dark, her head swam with thoughts of Bea, was she sleeping soundly or was she also awake, the distance between them just left her feeling cold and empty as she tried to remind herself that she just had to get through the next three days and then she would see her again. She felt so completely alone in her mind, body and soul, reaching over to Beas side of the bed she found her pillow and hugged it close to her eventually drifting back to sleep only to be awoken a few hours later by the alarm.

Arriving at the bar just before 9am she startled Will as she walking into the office,

“Jesus Allie you scared the shit outta me!”

“Sorry Will, why are you hear so early anyways?”

“Can you keep a secret?” Allie just nodded. “I'm trying to find someplace to take Rose for a little getaway, and I can't do it at home cos I don't want her to find out, I'm….well….I’m going to propose to her.”

“Wow, that's great news Will, have you got the ring yet?”

“I have.”

Getting up from his seat he walked over to the open safe, bending down he took out a box that was hidden at the back and handed it to Allie.

“Go on have a look,” he urged.

“Will its gorgeous, she's going to love it.”

“You think? I'm not sure, what if she says no?”

Allie handed the box back to him and he returned it to its hiding place.

“If she says no then she obviously lost her mind, but I doubt that she will, she crazy about you.”

Will sat back down gesturing for Allie to take a seat next to him.

“I have a favour to ask, we're only going to be away for four days, I had been hoping for a long weekend but that's just not possible, next couple of months our schedules clash, would you be up for running the restaurant for me?”

“I'll give it a go, but what about the bar?”

“Shayne will cover you, you've taught him well Allie, he's almost as good as you, and you'll still be here if he runs into any problems.”

Allie thought for a few minutes, the restaurant was a big responsibility, even though Will had started training her to run it for times when he was away she was still unsure in her ability to actually handle that side of the business even though she knew Will trusted her.

“It's a big responsibility Will, what if I mess up?”

“You won't, and I'm not going anywhere for three weeks, that gives us two weeks to make sure you're up to speed with everything, stop doubting yourself, you can do anything when you put your mind to it you've proved that to me time and time again.”

“Ok, I'll do it, you've always been so good to me giving me time off when I've asked and everything.”

“Then its settled, next week we'll concentrate on making sure you know every little detail, and the head chef will always be there if you have any questions, sometimes even I have to ask him for help when it comes to the orders you know,” Will chuckled.

The rest of the morning and afternoon had passed surprisingly quickly for Allie, Will had spoken to Shayne and he had been more than willing to pick up some extra hours just as Will had expected. The evening had dragged a little for Allie, it didn't matter that the bar was busy all she could think about was that she should be at home with Bea, ‘two more days,’ she kept telling herself.

———————————————

Bea had just gotten off the phone with Debbie, arranging to meet her at the cafe for breakfast, and as happy as she was about seeing her daughter she was missing Allie, Franky knocking loudly on her door brought her out of her thoughts.

“Franky I'm not deaf there really is no need to bang on my door.”

“Whatever ya say Red, ya heard anything yet?”

Beas phone started ringing before she had time to answer seeing Paul's name on the screen she quickly answered the call.

“Bea, sorry it took so long to call you, it's been a nightmare, still got SOCO going over the place with a fine tooth comb.”

“I'll bet, have you found anything?”

“All I can say for certain right now is that whoever was buried in the garden was shot in the head, as to who it is we'll have to wait a few days to find out, but I know the victim is definitely male.”

“So it is possible that it's Jason?”

“Very possible, anyway changing the subject, we've decided that we better not go after Jess all guns blazing, we were thinking that we'll watch her for a couple of days, are you and Franky up for some surveillance?”

“I know I am, let me ask Franky.”

Franky had agreed straight away, she was keen to find out what was going on and if the detective hadn't wanted to help she had planned on doing the same thing herself. Paul agreed to meet them at the cafe in the morning after agreeing that Franky would go with Davis first thing in the morning, Bea had let him know that she was meeting Debbie for breakfast asking him to keep the work talk to a minimum while she was around to which he agreed without hesitation, after finishing their call Franky grumbled that she was hungry,

“Shit Franky, between you, Allie and Debbie that's all I ever seem to hear,” she giggled.

“Yer well can I help it if my stomach has a mind of its own?”

After dinner in the hotel restaurant they both went back to their own rooms, Bea watched tv for a while before getting ready for bed and calling Allie, after an hour on the phone they had both yawned and Bea could tell Allie was going to fall asleep, telling her to get some sleep and that she loved her countless times before she hung up she finally slipped into bed wondering what they were going to find out the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sitting on the edge of my own seat now.....I'm going to really try and get the next chapter finished by Sunday, even I cant wait to find out what's going to happen!


	100. Chapter 100

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, chapter 100, how did I ever get here? As promised, thanks to stupid o'clock again I might add, here it is, enjoy.

As Bea and Franky walking into the cafe Debbie was already waiting for them a wide grin oh her face,

“Mum, Franky, its great to see you both, Gloria's just getting your coffee.”

Before they could even sit down Gloria appeared with two mugs of coffee in her hands.

“Good morning ladies, another busy day ahead of you I expect?”

“Not sure it'll be busy, more like boring,” Franky said with a smirk as she sat down accepting the welcome mug of coffee.

“I saw the news last night, you seem to have had an eventful day yesterday.”

“Everyday is eventful with mum and Franky around, they seem to both have a nose for finding the truth even when it is unpleasant.”

Gloria was just about to ask what they wanted for breakfast when Paul and Davis walked in.

“Don't get too comfortable over there Franky, I'm afraid you and Davis are going to have to have breakfast on the go.”

“Ahhh, I guess I can cope with a bacon sandwich, ya got me ain't ya Gloria?”

“Course Franky, and what about you young man?”

Davis just shook his head and Gloria returned to the kitchen to get Franky's breakfast, she returned five minutes later with a bag in one hand and a coffee to go in the other. Franky's eyes lit up, she knew what Gloria's bacon sandwiches were like because Debbie had already told her, the bacon would be perfectly crisp just as it always was and would be layered generously between two slices of fresh baked bread from the bakers that was around the corner, she could almost taste it already as she eagerly took the coffee and bag from her. She thanked Gloria before she tried to pass her the money for them,

“As long as your working with this lad of ours your money's no good here Franky, now off you go.”

Franky didn't even bother to protest she just jumped up from her seat and headed for the door,

“Are we going or what Davis?”

Franky headed straight for the door not even giving him a chance to reply and walked out to wait by the car for him to catch her up.

“Looks like Franky will keep him on his toes,” Paul laughed as he sat down watching Davis disappear through the door silently.

“Yer, she will,” Debbie giggled, “right breakfast, I'm wasting away here you know.”

“Deb are you ever not hungry?” Bea asked shaking her head.

Gloria went back to their table with a coffee for Paul asking what they all wanted, Paul and Debbie both saying they wanted a full English and Bea opting for bacon and scrambled egg. Just as he had promised he kept talk of the case to a minimum, he answered the few questions that Debbie had asked giving her as much detail as he though necessary so that she wouldn't keep asking more questions.

“Mum, isn't Allie pissed off at ya? I mean you're here for a week.”

“She understands that it's work, we both knew this might happen sooner or later, I know she's not happy but it can't be helped, I couldn't leave Franky to deal with this on her own and David couldn't come with her because he's got classes.”

Debbie took her answer and didn't bring it up again knowing that if she did she would most likely upset Bea, she could tell from the look on her face that she was missing her and they'd only been apart since Sunday afternoon. As soon as their food arrived Debbie was too busy eating to ask anymore questions anyway and Paul could hardly believe what he was seeing when she finished hers before he'd eaten even half of his. Debbie said it was because she had to get to class when he looked at her with a questioning raised eyebrow and Bea had just laughed knowing that Debbie would always finish before anyone at the table, even Allie couldn't eat faster than she did. A brief silence had fallen between the trio when Beas phone chimed indicating a text message.

**Good morning babe, missed you all night, can't wait to speak to you later xx**

Bea smiled as she read her text before quickly answering her

**Good morning beautiful, I missed you too, I'll call before you go to bed, I love you xx**

She was just about to put her phone away when she received another text.

**Love you too xx**

Debbie said she had to get going getting up from her seat she told Bea she'd call her in a couple of days and left the cafe. Paul and Bea finished their breakfasts and after saying goodbye to Gloria they left to go to the station so they could discuss the case in private.

———————————————

Davis was as quiet on the drive over to Wallacia as he had been the previous day on their drive over to Redfern, for a while she was occupied eating her bacon sandwiches, she even offered him half of one hoping to get him to say at least two words to her but her efforts had been in vain as he just shook his head and carried on concentrating on the road ahead of them. Finishing her coffee she looked over at him again,

“What should I do with this?” She asked holding the now empty bag and paper cup up.

“Leave it on the floor for now.”

“Well shit ya do actually speak, I was beginning to wonder if the only time ya opened ya mouth was when ya had to ask questions,” Franky grinned as she placed her rubbish on the floor by her feet.

“No, I just don't do small talk,” came his serious reply.

“Fair enough, shit should have sent Red along with ya.”

The rest of their journey continued in silence much to Franky's annoyance, the guy may be a great detective a people person he wasn't, his presence in the car seemed to buzz around Franky like a fly she could never swat, every breath or movement he made seemed to annoy her more. She was stuck with him for the next few hours and all she could hope was that they at least caught sight of Jess. A while later they turned a corner into Murroobah Road, Davis slowed the car down,

“What number was it?”

Franky was caught a little off guard expecting him to have remembered what number it was, he hadn't forgotten the street,

“Number 7,” she replied after a few seconds.

Pulling up across the street from the house he switched off the engine and sunk a little way down in his seat.

“You got a picture of this Warner woman?”

“Yer, ya have seen it?”

Davis just nodded his head and turned his head back to look at the house. Franky knew they couldn't see anything much from where they were sat since the house was surrounded by a high wall.

“I could get out and take a walk past,” Franky suggested.

Davis looked at her out of the corner of his eye but didn't answer so Franky just sat back in her seat, ten minutes later he finally spoke again.

“I guess that would be alright, if she sees you she's hardly going to think you're a cop, I wouldn't have pegged you for a private investigator, must be why you get your results.”

“Yer, an what do ya know about the results we get?”

“I do my research, pretty good at what you do I'll admit, that was a good call taking down the brothel owner, put quite a few people behind bars after all the work you did……go take a look but make it quick, and if you see her don't let her rumble you.”

Franky got out of the car and walked behind it before crossing the street, walking a little slower than she usually would as she neared the front gate she turned her head a little and she spotted a woman sitting on the front porch of the house, she couldn't be sure if it was Jess as her view was obscured because of the hight of the wall but as she walked passed she was sure she could hear a couple of kids out in the garden, something she thought strange since it was a school day. She carried on walking a little further up the street before she crossed back over and returned to the car, telling Davis what she had seen and heard. He just nodded and kept his eyes on the house as Franky turned on the radio, he said nothing as she looked for a station that was actually worth listening to.

The pair of them both knew that doing surveillance was about as exciting as sitting on a park bench for 9 hours in the pouring rain. In the movies they sit in the car eating take out and drinking coffee but something will always happen, drama is never far away, the villain always shows themselves, they'll be a chase and the plot moves on. In real life doing surveillance is very different, you can sit there for days without anything happening, the most fun you might have is flicking through the radio stations, you'll have learnt every irritating quirk of every presenter that you've heard and the popular songs that you used to love will start to make you feel like you're having nails hammered into your ears. The only thing the movies ever get right is that something is going to happen, but unlike in the movies when the cops are ready and waiting to pounce, when something happens in real life it's usually when you need a toilet break or some idiot knocks on the window and asks for directions.

  
Franky looked at the clock on the dashboard, they had been sat there for four and a half hours now it was almost 1pm, her stomach grumbling got Davis’s attention and he turned to look at her,

“Hungry?”

“What gave that away?”

“There's a pizza place couple of blocks from here, if you've still got the energy to walk back there you could get us both something.”

“What you eat? Seriously I thought you were a robot or something. You do eat pizza then I take it?”

“Who doesn't?”

Franky went for pizza and when she returned she found Davis camera in hand, laptop sat on the passenger seat, opening the door she passed him the box and picked up the laptop,

“She's been out on the street, thought she saw me for a minute, it's definitely Warner.”

“She was alone then?”

“Yes, and she wasn't gone for long.”

The rest of the day had passed uneventfully, Jess didn't leave the house again but they saw a man enter and leave about an hour later, neither of them knew who he was, Davis downloaded the photos to the laptop and sent them to Paul. They both stayed slumped in their seats trying to keep a low profile until Bea and Paul arrived to take over from them at 4pm, leaving Bea in the car on her own Paul got in the back seat of Davis’s car,

“The guy you saw earlier is a drug runner, pretty low level guy by all accounts but he works for the Vinnie Holt, ring a bell?”

“Shit, she's mixed up with him, that's not good, fuck, this is all tied up with ex chief.”

“Got it in one Davis, we take Warner down if we can get her to talk we might just finally nail him, but we got to be smart here, first priority is finding out what happened to Ryan.”

“Yes so you already told me, Franky did a walk past and she heard a couple of kids in the garden this morning, couldn't see anything cos of the wall.”

“You two get out of here, we got this until midnight, then Jones and Roberts are here until you get back here in the morning.”

Paul got out of the car and walked back to his own, waiting for Davis to drive off so he could pull up into the same spot.

“I hate surveillance, you done much Bea?”

“Not really I usually manage to pass it on to Franky,” she laughed.

They sat in silence until it was dark, there had been no movement that could be seen from the house, there had been a light on at one point but that had been turned out a short time after it had come on. When it reached 10:30pm Bea said she needed to stretch her legs. Getting out of the car she walked down the road out of sight of Paul and the house. Getting her phone from her pocket she just hoped that Allie hadn't fallen asleep already, she'd let her know earlier on in the day what she would be doing and she'd said she was fine with that but she needed to speak to her, Allie had told her she was covering a shift as well as doing her own and Bea was worried that she was working too hard because she was away. It took a little longer for Allie to answer as soon as she did she apologised saying she had been in the shower, they couldn't talk for long because Bea needed to get back to the car Allie was just glad to know that she was ok even though she wanted to talk for longer she knew it was impossible, all she could think about was that she had one more day to work and only two more nights on her own, she had to keep reminding herself of that, saying goodnight had felt so much harder that night and after five minutes Bea managed to hang up. She had just started walking back in the direction of the car when she saw a woman walking towards her with two children walking behind her, as she got closer she knew it was Jess straight away. She kept walking back to the car Jess bowed her head when she realised that someone was walking towards her, as they got closer Bea could tell that both the children were boys, one much taller than the other with blonde hair and she guessed he must have been about 12 or 13, the younger boy she guessed was about 6 or 7 with dark hair, as she passed them by the older boy looked straight at her his piercing blue eyes looked pleadingly at her and she knew straight away that it was Ryan, as soon as she'd walked past she sped up wanting to get back to the car as soon as she could.

“She has Ryan, he's still alive,” Bea told Paul the second she got back in the car.

“Are you sure?”

“I could be wrong I guess, after all the we only have the picture that we had forensically aged to go on but I'd recognise his eyes anywhere.”

“I'm wondering who the younger boy was, that's a job for tomorrow we better look into more recent missing persons cases, although I suspect he's not local.”

They sat quietly chatting when something caught Beas eye, as if it were made of the darkness itself a cat appeared, breaking the monotony a little, Beas eyes never left it and she watched it as it gave a barely perceptible shake of its head. In the silence they both heard the cat cry out, breaking the silence more violently than any gunshot would, five pounds of fur ball started running towards the car jumping on the bonnet of the car making them both jump. An hour later another car pulled up behind them, darkness fell inside the car again and the back door suddenly opened and someone got in. Paul glanced in the rear view mirror seeing that it was Detective Jones.

“Bea this is Detective Jones, poor lads got to stay awake all night.”

Filling Detective Jones in on what they had seen he got out of the car and Paul started the engine driving off spotting Jess on her way back with the boys in tow. Bea started to feel the anger boiling up inside of her, clenching her fists a little too hard her knuckles turned white, she gritted her teeth an an attempt not to shout out at her a break their cover, she sat hunched in her seat exuding animosity which Paul picked up on within seconds, the anger boiled inside her was like acid, burning and potent.

“Bea it's going to work out, I got pictures of them as they left the house we'll go through everything in the morning and make a decision where to go from there, you need to get some sleep, I know I do.”

“You're right, I know, I just cant help it, when I think about Ryan's parents and how they must feel…I know it's him I feel it, but I know we need to be as sure as we can.”

Arriving back at the station Bea headed straight for their car, she was exhausted and just wanted to get back to the hotel. She still felt angry on her way back and wanted to speak to Franky but thought she might be asleep. Heading back to her room she found Franky hanging around outside her door,

“How'd it go?”

“Think you bet come in and sit down.”

Franky followed Bea into her room and sat on the sofa, Bea sitting next to her before she began telling her what she had seen, Franky wasn't shocked about there being two boys with her but she was surprised that she had taken them out so late. Franky had thought that she wouldn't take them out at all, but as she thought about it it made sense especially if one of the boys was Ryan. She left a few minutes later letting Bea get to bed.

———————————————

Next morning they had breakfast in the hotel before heading back to the station, they both wanted to know if anything had happened over night even though they were nervous about finding out. After arriving at the station they waited a few minutes for Paul who was running a little late, when he arrived he took them both through to his office, the bored in his office had all the previous days photographs pinned to it, offering them both a seat he sat behind his desk waiting for Davis. As soon as he arrived he said they didn't have long because they needed to get going, Franky really didn't want to spend another 8 hours sitting in the car with him but she wanted to try and see if she could see Ryan out in daylight even though Paul had said that it was highly unlikely he would be out during the day, after they were all up to speed Franky and Davis left for another morning of surveillance. Paul went to get coffee leaving Bea alone, she got up looking at all the photographs on the bored, she studied the photo that Paul had taken that clearly showed Ryan's face, when Paul came back he handed her a coffee.

“I think you're right, that boy does look remarkably like Ryan, obviously older and the age progression you had done is almost spot on, I need to speak with the boss but I think we need to move on this tomorrow.”

“So soon?”

“I don't think we can leave it any longer, I know I want to get evidence on the Holts so I can tie them in with the the ex chief but I don't want Ryan leaving with Warner any longer than is necessary and I think six years is way too long, I'm going to have to bring Greg Taylor in, and I know he was the chiefs nephew but if it hadn't been for him we wouldn't be this far ahead now, best thing he ever did asking you and Franky for help.”

“The guys an idiot but I guess he did try to do the right thing in the end, just makes me so angry knowing he sat on this for months, Ryan could be home now.”

Thirty minutes later Detectives Jones and Roberts walked into Paul's office, overnight they had been able to look more closely at the house, they had seen no cameras anywhere on the house, Detective Roberts saying that she must have felt safe enough to not need them, after spending another thirty minutes in Paul's office they left leaving Bea and Paul to look over the blue prints to the house that Jess lived in, the house looked a lot smaller from the street than it actually was and Bea had to wonder who had paid for it, there was no way Jess could afford it, what little money they knew she had came from her mother and step father in a weekly allowance. Paul had left the office again returning a short time later looking pleased with himself a stack of paperwork in his hands. Retaking his seat he looked over some of it grinning ear to ear.

“Vinnie holt is paying her, god knows what for but the guys found another bank account for Warner, here look at this,” he held out a sheet of paper to Bea, “ Vinnie deposited the money for the house in her account just a little over three years ago when she purchased it, and he makes regular monthly payments into the same account, I thinks she's like her step father in way over her head.”

“So what's next?”

  
“We go in tomorrow night, I've sent two other detectives out to relieve Franky and Davis we need them back here and I've arrange for other detectives to replace us, they should be back soon then we've got to meet with the boss to go over everything and finalise what's going to happen.”

Twenty minutes later Franky and Davis walked back in,

“Gunna tell us what the deal is? I mean we're out for a couple of hours and then here we are?” Franky asked a little pissed off.

Paul rose from his seat and ushered them all out of his office towards another office, coming to a stop Bea read the name plate on the door ‘Detective Chief Inspector Conner,’ Paul knocked and Waited a few seconds before hearing someone on the other side of the door say come in. Paul and Davis entered first closely followed by Bea and Franky, four chairs were sat in front of the massive desk that seemed too large for the room. This meeting was way too long and boring for Franky and even Bea found herself drifting off into her own thoughts here and there. Three hours later after countless other people had been summoned to the office they found themselves back in Paul's office, that was it it was done, they would keep up surveillance on Warner just to make sure that she didn't run although no one thought she would as she'd not moved in over three years, the warrants were in place, teams of officers were being briefed already, Paul couldn't sit down he was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet like a giddy child and rubbing his hands together,

“Are you all ready for this?”

Davis nodded while Franky and Bea just looked at him, they could never have got this far this quickly alone and Bea was trying to take it all in but her brain had stopped working, she was a little panicked and felt like her whole body might shut down any second, there was zero thinking going on in Franky's head, even she felt as if she could no longer operate on any level. When Bea finally drug herself back from her confused thinking it sudden hit her, Ryan's parents, what about his parents, would they be informed? Bea stood up suddenly and walked to the window.

“Everything alright there Bea?” Paul asked with concern.

She stayed silent for a few seconds until she asked,

“Will Ryan's parents be informed?”

“Tomorrow evening before we do anything two detectives will visit them and inform them of the developments, they will stay with them until it's all over, stop worrying Bea, by tomorrow night Warner will be in custody, I have detectives still looking through missing person files still trying to work out who the other boy is, we're working on the hunch that he's not actually her own child, she's way too unstable for that, it's going to work out one way or another we will get the result we want.”

Bea turned to look at him still unsure about everything she had head, one more day that's all that was separating them from hopefully finding out the truth. She held onto hope as if it were a bright star shining in a hopelessly dark universe, through light years of darkness and distance hopes brightness filled her inner self, making her smile on the inside as well as the out, hope wasn't an emotion it was a promise, a promise that happiness and laughter were just around the corner. Returning to the hotel she lay on the bed after sending a text to Allie and Debbie, she might be afraid of what was to come but she would hold on to hope until they found the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to leave it there but I had to finish somewhere. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this for 100 chapters, I'm not sure how much longer this will carry on for before I have to find an ending but it won't be anytime soon I think.


	101. Chapter 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is it Ryan? Will they get both boys out of the house?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really couldn't keep this hanging in the air and I wrote this chapter pretty quickly for a change. There's nothing else I can say except I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

After lunch Bea and Franky headed over to the police station, neither of them had a clue what would happen later in the day but one thing was certain they would soon find out. Paul and Davis were already waiting for them, walking them through the station to Paul's office. Filling them in on what the surveillance from the previous day had uncovered, a pattern seemed to be forming, Jess had left the house alone once again in the afternoon and again later in the day after it had gone dark with both the boys returning just over an hour later. Davis seemed pretty pleased with himself judging by the look on his face and that did nothing to soothe Franky's nerves, for the most part he wore the same blank expression and the small smile that he was wearing was a little unsettling. Paul finished telling them everything that he had to say before he looked over at Davis who was sitting in the corner of the room. Raising from his seat he settled himself on the edge of the desk directly in front of Bea and Franky, clearing his throat before he spoke,

“I have a couple of friends who work in the SRG, one in tactical intelligence the other in tactical operations, I've shown them all we have and they've suggested a few things we need to keep in mind when we go in, but that's nothing for you to worry about, my guy in operations says that the boys are more than likely going to be in the rear of the property, Warner will want to keep them as far from the front of the house as she can so we'll simultaneously go in through the front and the back, hopefully we can get the boys out before she even knows what's happening. As far as the younger boy goes we can't be sure of his identity, we've checked missing persons files for the last six years and nothing has stood out, then a case was brought to my attention….the guy who we spotted yesterday,”

Davis got up from the desk walking over to the board and removed the photograph of guy who was seen at the house.

“This guy is Brandon Martin, low level dealer and all round nasty piece of work, his ex girlfriend, Sky Pierson was a friend of Warners, five years ago she was murdered and her one year old son disappeared at the time all eyes were on Martin, they split up right after the boy was born, he'd kept her clean while she was pregnant and she went straight back to using heroin after the birth, naturally they thought they had gotten into a fight when he found out and he'd killed her and taken the boy with him only a few days later it became apparent that he was in Perth at the time she was killed visiting his dying father, Warner was interviewed but at the time there was nothing suspicious so she wasn't considered a suspect, looks like that case is going to be reopened now.”

“Slow down speedy,” Franky grumbled, “so what your saying is that she's not only a kidnapper but she could be a murder and she’s been able to walk free all this time an no one put two and two together?”

“You're forgetting about Jason Weston Franky, there's every possibility that she either killed him or had him killed, but yes what you say is true she has been allowed to walk freely out there and I don't know what I can possibly say that can make that look better, I've looked into the detectives who investigated and wouldn't you know they've been investigated as part of the ongoing corruption case, one has lost his job and one is in prison, he was tied to something or other with drugs I forget what exactly. But now we are getting away from the point here, as I was going to tell you we have two teams ready to go in tonight, myself and Paul will obviously be there and if you want to the DI has approved your presence on scene on the condition that you don't enter the property at any time, as long as you agree to that then we're all set.”

Bea sat up straight in her chair just as her phone chimed, ignoring it for now she looked straight at Davis,

“I can't speak for Franky but I want to be there, I don't care what I have to do but I need to see for myself that Ryan gets out of there unharmed.”

Davis nodded his head and looked at Franky,

“Yer what Bea said, won't believe it until I see him with my own eyes.”

“Then its settled, Paul you got anything to add?”

“Think you've covered everything there Davis except telling these two to get out of here for a while, no use you hanging around here, as long as you get back for 7pm, we've got one last briefing before we head out, need to keep everyone up to speed on this as we still have surveillance on the house, you never know when something could change.”

———————————————

Allie had been busy all morning, finishing the stock take and completing the order leaving Shane alone for most of the morning, not that he minded, he liked to keep himself busy and had rearranged all the glasses and set up the bar long before opening time. He'd wondered through to the restaurant to ask if Will needed any help to find Will sitting on one of the sofas looking through some paperwork,

“Anything I can do in here for you?”

Will looked up and smiled,

“You know I think everything's ready for opening, but you can take a load off if you've got nothing else to do, what's Allie up to?”

Sitting on one of the other sofas he looked at the stack of paperwork sitting on the table,

“She's finishing up the order, everything is set for opening in the bar and I've run out of things to do.”

“You two really do work well together don't you? I wish it was always as simple as it is between the two of you.”

“Something wrong?”

“Not really just had to fire one of of the waiters, let's just say he was getting a little too over friendly with one of waitresses.”

“So you're looking to replace him?”

“Yes, and I need to find someone quick, don't suppose you know anyone who needs a job?”

“I just might, I'll go make a call.”

Shane returned to the bar to make the call, his best friend had been working at a restaurant across town that hadn't been doing well for a long time and it had closed a couple of weeks ago, Mark was his oldest friend, and he hated to see him so disheartened, like Shane he'd found himself in trouble his parents had kicked him out and he'd struggled on his own for a long time, the owner of the restaurant had given him a chance and it had turned his whole life around, now he worried about finding a new job and keeping a roof over his head, Shane had told him that if the worst came to the worst he could always stay with him for which Mark had thanked him saying he hoped it wouldn't come to that. After making the call he wondered back through to the restaurant to tell Will that his friend would be over in an hour.

Allie made it back to the bar a short while after they had opened finding Shane leaning on the bar waiting for the first customers of the day.

“Well you look bored out of your head there.”

“Oh, hey Allie, you finished everything?”

“Yep…..you gonna miss me for the rest of the week?”

“I'm not sure I can run the the bar without you, Linda was here last time you were away but she's on holiday and I've got a couple of the part time staff in with me.”

“Shane you have nothing to worry about, the orders done so you don't have to worry about that, all you have to do is keep doing what you always do and check the new stock when it arrives on Saturday morning, you'll do just fine.”

Shane nodded and stood up straight as the first customer of the day walked in.

After a couple of hours both the bar and the restaurant were pretty busy, since the restaurant opened more customers had been attracted to both, the restaurants lunchtime menu and it's relaxed atmosphere had proved to be very popular and was almost always full between 12 and 2pm meaning the bar would be busy as people waited to get a table both Shane and Allie had been rushed off their feet and as it was just starting to quieten down a little Allie sent a text to Bea.

Shane had managed to find a couple of minutes to take Mark through to the restaurant to meet Will but since then he hadn't had a break, he'd just gone through to the back when Allie spotted Will and Mark walk back into the bar both with smiles on their faces.

“Hey Allie this is Mark, he'll be starting work in the restaurant next week, where’s Shane?”

“Nice to meet you Mark, he's just gone through to have his break.”

Twenty minutes later the three of them appeared back in the bar, Will shook Marks hand and returned to the restaurant.

———————————————

Bea flopped down on the sofa in her room and suddenly remembered that she'd received a text earlier, pulling her phone out of her pocket she already knew it would be from Allie and she smiled just at the thought,

**Sorry I didn't text you this morning gorgeous, hope your days going well xx**

She really wanted to call her but knowing that Allie was working she had to settle for sending a text.

**Don't worry about it beautiful, my days a little strange, I really need to speak to you but today seems to be working against me, if you get a chance could you call me before 7 xx**

Checking the time she guessed she would be busy and dropped her phone down on the sofa beside her, reaching for the remote she turned the tv on and flicked through the channels trying to find something to take her mind off the events that the evening might bring. She couldn't find anything that interested her so opted for a radio station instead just as her phone started ringing. Looking down at it she saw it was Allie and picked it up quickly,

“Hey beautiful, are you late having a break?”

“Just a little, it's been mad here today, what did you need to talk to me about?”

“Yer, ummmmm, I might not be able to call you later, their going to raid the house and Paul said we could tag along.”

“Shit Bea, you better be careful.”

“Don't worry, we're not allowed to go in to the house, we're going to be out on the street with Paul and Davis, I need to be there though, I need to see Ryan with my own eyes.”

“I get it, but I'll worry about you, send me a text when it's over, I know I might be asleep by then but at least as soon as I wake up I'll know you're safe.”

“I will and I'll text you before we leave if I can….i miss you…”

“I miss you too, so much, but I'll see you to……….on Sunday when you get back.”

“What were you just going to say?”

“Hmmm, oh, errr, nothing I was just thinking about tomorrow, it's always quiet in here on Thursdays, hey doesn't Bridget fly over tomorrow afternoon?”

Bea sighed, “Yes she does, wish you could.”

“Me too, I better get going, it sounds like it's getting busy again, I love you.”

“Love you too, I'll text you later.”

Bea dropped her phone back down, part of her wishing that Bridget wasn't going to be there, she wouldn't be in the way she knew that but she would still be alone for the rest of the week, or so she thought, and it was that that made her wish she had told Franky that it wasn't a good idea, getting up from the sofa and walking to the window she mentally scolded herself for being so selfish, she'd taken time off work more than once to spend time with Allie and so far Franky hadn't had any time off, Franky had encouraged her to take the time off, ‘stop being so fucking selfish,’ she told herself, but maybe, her thoughts told her, maybe that kind of selfishness is alright from time to time, especially if it could take Franky's mind off the job they still had to finish. Staring down to the street below she watched as people moved along the street, some were in a hurry others just sauntered along as if they didn't have a care in the world and she found herself wishing that she didn't. She had two problems that were eating away at her the first was just how much she missed Allie, although not really a problem, that was an exaggeration, they could still talk to one another, the second was Ryan, how would the evening play out? Was it even Ryan, she was so certain that it was. In the grand scheme of things her problems were minimal, there were so many problems in the world, many so much bigger than what she thought were problems, she wasn't blind to what went on in the world her eyes were open, her problems were insignificant compared to many.

At 5pm there was a loud knock on her door, she knew straight away that it would be Franky summoning her for dinner, they had agreed to eat in the hotel restaurant before going back to the police station, Bea wasn't really hungry, the fear of what was to come was sitting in the pit of her stomach and the need to eat wasn't on the top of her priorities, opening the door she slipped out meeting Franky in the corridor. The restaurant wasn't busy and they were seated and ordered their meals quickly. Franky was busy eating her dinner when she looked over at Bea watching her push the food around the plate with her fork,

“Red, ya gotta eat, I know you're scared but ya gotta look after ya self, ya wanna get me in trouble with blondie for not keeping an eye on ya?”

“I don't need you to keep an eye on me Franky, I'm just not hungry right now.”

“Yer well try an eat yer.”

The rest of their meal was eaten in silence, Bea ate a little but couldn't face much, pushing a half full plate away from her she told Franky she was going back to her room for a while before they needed to head out. Franky couldn't help but worry about her whenever she wouldn't eat and even though she knew it was just because she was scared of what was to come she decided to send Bridget a text.

**What time do you get here tomorrow? xx**

She was just leaving the restaurant when she received a reply.

**We land just after 4pm, should be at the hotel before 5pm, is something wrong? xx**

**Not really, just think seeing Allie might cheer Bea up, see you tomorrow babe, will try and call later xx**

Franky stopped by the front desk before she went back to her room to check that they were expecting Bridget and Allie the next day, she'd struggled to keep quiet about Allie, for the last three days and was just glad that both their minds would be preoccupied with other things for the rest of the evening.

Arriving at the station just before 7pm they were both distracted, as Bea pulled up into the car park her heart jumped straight into her throat, it was beating even more rapidly than if she had run the whole way there. Entering the station they were taken to the briefing room that was already quite full, taking a seat each that Paul had saved for them at the front they waited for the DI to get there. A few minutes later he walked calmly into the room taking his position at the front of the room. Two hours later everyone knew what they were going to be doing, they were aware of the layout of the house and most of them filed out of the room to get ready to leave, the DI approached Bea and Franky,

“You've done some good work on this case, and usually I wouldn't even consider allowing civilians on the scene but I think you should be there, don't make me regret my decision, we don't need either of you getting hurt out there.”

He didn't wait for a reply as he simply turned and walked away leaving them to just look at each other.

On the drive over to Wallacia Paul told them more simply than the DI had how things were going to work, two teams of officers would surround the house, one team at the back and one at the front and they would coordinate their entry so they entered the house at the same time, the house was already in darkness and there had been no sign of life since the morning, Bea and Franky had to stay close to Paul and Davis, they weren't going to enter the house at any time so they wouldn't get in the way, as long as both boys were in the house they would be brought out first and taken to a waiting ambulance to be checked over, Warner would be kept inside until the boys were clear of the scene then she would be taken to the station, Paul couldn't say for sure if they would interview her that night, explaining that she may not be mentally competent to be interviewed or that she may act as though she wasn't either way they would have to have her checked over before any interview could be conducted, they had uncovered her extensive psychiatric history, she had been in hospital in the past on a number of occasions.

“Is anyone with Ryan's parents?”

  
“Of course, they will have been with them for the past hour hour Bea, don't worry everything is in order, as soon as we know anything it will be passed straight on to the detectives with his parents.”

Once they arrived at Murroobah Road the parked where they could, getting out of the car they made their way further up the street on foot so they could get as close to the house as they possibly could without being in the way. They watched the officers that were going in getting ready to move, it seemed so unreal to Bea, her heart was telling her that she wanted to go in with them, grab the boys and run, her head was ordering her body to fall into line and do what they had been told they had to do. She knew doing anything else would be a disaster, she was scared, ‘what if the boys weren't even in there anymore,’ she silently asked herself. Nothing in her face betrayed her she wasn't going to let her fear show, she wore her mask of calmness and surety better than she thought she would, not even Franky questioned her. Her fear would eventually need an out and she knew that, but right then she wasn't going to let herself turn into a gibbering wreck, there was a time and a place to let it out and right then sure as hell wasn’t that time.

They watched on as both teams entered through the gate, everything was silent for what felt like hours and then the commotion started the doors were broken open and the teams were in, Warner was taken by surprise asleep in her bed and she had no time to react, both boys were found in the same room at the back of the house the younger boy was carried out of the house by an officer while the older boy walked in front of them. Beas mind was confused, she'd never seen anything like this before, through the swirl of her sickening fears she heard Franky's voice, casual and light,

“Red……you ok there?….Bea!”

“W…what, what happened?”

“The boys are out, Paul wanted to know if you want to go and see them before they get taken to the hospital to get checked out.”

“Fuck, Franky….I…I…course I want to see them, I have to see them.”

Franky linked her arm in Beas and walked her over to the ambulance where Paul was talking to the older boy. Stopping next to Paul the older boy looked at her,

“I saw you, the other night you were walking down the street, did you do all this?”

Bea couldn't find her voice for a minute or two and the boy just watched her, when she finally spoke her voice was quieter than usual,

“You did see me and I saw you……..I didn't do anything really, I just helped. What's your name?”

“Thank you for helping, Jess calls me Ethan but that's not my name, I'm Ryan, Ryan Green, my dad always told me that I had to remember my name and address in case I ever got lost, but it's been a long time since I saw him and I can't remember where I live.”

“That's ok sweetie, we know where you live.”

Bea couldn't hold back the tears and she turned to Franky who was standing right by her side, she gently pulled her away from everyone who was around the ambulance and put her arm round her, Bea rested her head on Franky's shoulder and sobbed uncontrollably, her hands holding onto the back of her jacket. Franky just held her in silence as her tears soaked into her jacket, as she calmed down she pulled away,

“I'm sorry,” Bea whispered.

“There's no need to apologise and ya know that, how many times have ya cried on my shoulder, you're my best friend what else am I here for when no one else can be?”

Before Allie Franky had been the only person who had ever seen her completely broken and vulnerable, she was the friend who could see through all that and still see the spark inside her, she loved her for who she was, they always had each other's backs through the good and the bad and today should be a good day, Ryan was safe, he would be going home.

Paul found them both standing to the side quietly talking to each other, clearing his throat to get their attention he said that the ambulance was about ready to leave and that Ryan had asked if Bea would go and see him the next day. Walking back to the car with Paul and Davis they were both exhausted, both wanted to get back to the hotel and sleep, sitting in the back of the car, even though dawn was still some time away Bea felt the light in her heart that had been missing the day before. Right now it was still a spark of hope, a ray of sunshine yet to be born, but it was there and she could feel it. Maybe it was optimism, anticipation of the good things that had yet to come, that Ryan would live the rest of his life healthy and happy, that the other boy would be identified and returned to a loving home, the feeling felt as foreign to her as it was welcome. For the first time that week Bea had let Franky drive them back to the hotel, Bea was just too tired to do anything, she wanted more than anything to speak to Allie but it was too late now to do that, sending her a text instead, knowing she would read it in the morning and hopefully answer her was the best she could do. Back at the hotel they went straight up to their rooms, before Bea disappeared inside Franky pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear,

“You are more than you know, and less than you will become, don't you ever forget that.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not over yet, I still have so much more to write before they leave Sydney, expect the unexpected, after all I always do when I'm writing!


	102. Chapter 102

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had hoped to finish this chapter yesterday but I needed a break from writing.
> 
> Just a quick warning you may not want to read the end of this chapter in public!

Bea was woken up by her phone chiming, opening her eyes expecting it to be brighter she was a little confused at first it was barely daylight, picking up her phone she smiled seeing the text from Allie, she was surprised that she was awake so early but happy to hear from her.

**Call me when you get this text xx**

Sitting up she rested her back against the headboard, should she call her so early? She must be awake, maybe she couldn't sleep. She didn't spend long debating with herself and called her a couple of minutes after she had received the text.

“Good morning gorgeous did I wake you?”

“If I said no would you believe me?”

“Yes and no, how did it go? I've been awake half the night worrying if everything went alright.”

Bea spent the next two hours telling her everything, well almost she didn't mention her little breakdown after she had spoken to Ryan, that was something she didn't want to tell her over the phone, after ending the call she felt lighter, she could have sat talking to Franky for the better part of the day and wouldn't feel any different, her heart would still feel heavy, her thinking stilly muddy and her mood still low, Allie could lift her from the deepest hole that she found herself in and make everything so much brighter and yet sometimes she worried that everything she told her would one day push her away, become too much for her to hear and she would stop listening or just simply leave.

After almost an hour of doing nothing she finally drug herself from her bed so she could get ready for whatever the day would hold, she had no idea what they would be doing that day, nothing had been discussed, at least she didn't think it had, the vast majority of the night before was a blur to her, standing in the shower as the water cascaded down her body she remembered what Paul had said, Ryan wanted to see her, she couldn't recall if anything was mentioned about that afterwards but maybe Franky knew, still she guessed it was still too early for Franky to be awake.

In the seven hours that Franky had actually been in bed she had woken up no fewer than six times, each time it wasn't for long but it had been enough to break the sleep she had longed for into the most un refreshing chunks. All too soon her room was light and once again her mind was moving faster than a three year old can speak, the previous nights events stuck on fast forward with the volume turned right up, sitting up and rubbing her tired eyes she wanted nothing more than to be able to wash her brain in cold water. Even though the night had been a success she still couldn't rest, something told her that it wasn't over yet, they were meant to be at the station for 10am and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep, sitting on the edge of the bed she yawned, sleeplessness came with the job.

Arriving at the station slightly before 10am as normal Paul was waiting for them,

“Good morning, and what a great morning it is.”

“Huh, ya think, doesn't seem so great from here,” Franky grumbled.

“Ahhh, I take it you didn't sleep well, come on let's get you some coffee and I'll fill you in.”

Davis was sitting waiting for them looking through some paperwork, entering the office they sat in their usual seats while Paul went for coffee. Looking up from a the paper he had in his hand Davis just smiled at them both before dropping his head back to what he was holding. Paul returned handing out the coffee before sitting on his desk.

“The boys are both doing well, we're almost certain Ryan is who he says he is, obviously we're running a DNA test just to make certain, had to get it rushed through but it'll still take a couple of days so he'll be staying in hospital until we get conformation, the other boy is a mystery, all he can say is that Warner always called him Luke, he has no recollection of ever living with anyone else so actually identifying him will take some time if we ever do.”

“What about Jess?” Bea suddenly asked.

“She hasn't been interviewed yet, we had a doctor check her over an hour ago and he says she competent to be interviewed so we should be doing that in an hour or so. I've heard from the officer who's at the hospital that Ryan is still asking to see you Bea and his parents would like to meet both of you so when you're up to it I'll let you both go over there, there's no rush though and if you're not up to meeting Ryan's parents today I'm sure they'll understand."

The office door suddenly flew open revealing the DI, walking into the office he stood by the window without saying a word, he stood there as if he only entered the room to watch the world go by before he turned round to face the four of them,

“Brandon Martin has just walked into the station and is waiting to speak to someone, he says we are keeping him from seeing his son and that Warner was just taking care of him because he couldn't. Does that make any sense to anyone here? It seems to me that Mr Martin has forgotten about the circumstances of his sons disappearance, from what he has said to the desk Sargent he doesn't seem to even recall that his girlfriend was murdered.”

“You want us to interview him boss?” Davis asked.

“No, I'm going to send Jones and Roberts to deal with him, I need you to concentrate on Warner. It seems after the four of you left last night there was quite a bit of interest in what was going on and not by the neighbours, we've had uniformed officers going house to house since 9am and so far what I'm hearing back is that they all thought there was something strange about Warner but their concerns were never peaked high enough to report anything. What I really need is Bea and Franky to head over to the hospital, young Ryan seems to be struggling and he's asked to see Bea, I don't think he knows your name he keeps saying he wants to see the lady with red hair, maybe it'll help him sort through his thoughts and emotions but he seems to have taken a shine to you.”

“I'm not sure how I can help him, but I would like to check up on him, is it alright if we go now?”

“Of course, his parents want to see you also, and boy are they pissed at Greg Taylor, he made an appearance at the hospital early this morning, lets say it's a good thing we had officers there at the time.”

Bea and Franky were just about to leave the room when Franky suddenly realised that they didn't even know which hospital they were at,

“Dumb question I know, but what hospital are we going to?”

“No ones told you? They are at the children's hospital over in Randwick, you need someone to take you over there?”

“Na, we'll be fine, do ya need us to come back?”

“If you want some time off that's fine, we'll bring you up to speed tomorrow.”

Franky checked to see where Bea was, seeing that she'd already walked off and was nowhere in sight she thought it was safe to say what was on her mind,

“Usually I would agree to taking the time off but I need to keep Bea out of the hotel until around six, her girlfriend is arriving this afternoon and she doesn't know, it's a surprise.”

“Ahh, I see……give Paul a call if you need an excuse to get her back here, I'm sure he can think of a good excuse.”

Franky smiled and nodded before taking off after Bea, by the time she caught up with her she was already sitting in the car, engine running, impatiently tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. Franky got in apologising for taking so long and after telling her which hospital they took off. Once they arrived at the hospital they had to wait for an officer to escort them to the boys room, Bea had been surprised that they had been kept together until the officer had explained that they refused to be separated.

Entering the room Beas eyes landed on Ryan instantly and he smiled brightly at her,

“You came, I'm so happy, I didn't think you would come and see us, I don't like the cop who keeps asking us questions, I don't understand what he's asking.”

Bea walked over to the bed and sat in the chair beside him,

“He's only trying to do his job so we can find out what really happened to you.”

“I get that, but he gets me all confused and I don't remember a lot of things.”

“Would it help if you told me what you remember? Maybe we can make sense of it together?”

Luke jumped up on Ryan's bed looking sheepishly at Bea,

“What about me?”

“You want to sit with Ryan?”

He just nodded his head and lay down on the bed his head resting on Ryan's leg.

“Ok, lets see, how about you tell me what you remember and I'll just listen how does that sound?”

Ryan nodded and thought for a while, the officer who had been questioning him hadn't given him time to think, he'd simply asked him question after question and couldn't understand why Ryan became upset and frustrated, he'd found trying to describe the people who had taken him like trying to get a tight grip on sand, with every question a little more had slipped through his fingers. Laying back against his pillows he closed his eyes and tried to say what he remembered.

“That day I was on my bike, there was a man who asked me something, I don't remember much about him, I know he was in a car……then, hmmmm…….i was going to ride back to my house and someone grabbed me, my bike fell to the ground and I was thrown in the back of the car, Jess was there and she held me, put her hand over my mouth so I couldn't scream but I tried, I really tried. I don't remember…….”

“That's alright you're doing great, I have all the time in the world, if it's too hard to talk about it we can talk tomorrow.”

“No, no, I want to try……….I remember a house, a small house in the woods, I wasn't allowed to go outside and she said my mum and dad didn't want me, I had to stay with her, I tried to find a way out but she saw me and she hit me……”

What Ryan's eventually described to her made her want to punch Jess Warner repeatedly, she would slap him across the face so hard that his face stung, sometimes she'd punch him and call him names, eventually he had stopped trying to get away, barely spoke to her, he would stay in the room she said was his and only leave when she told him to. Just over a year later she had left him alone, locked him in, he had left his room and tried the door finding it locked he went back to his room, there was no escape and he knew that, the window in his room didn't open and he'd thought that they would all be like that because he'd never seen a window open ever. When she returned she had a small boy with her and an older man, he'd never seen him before and only ever saw him a few times after that, from the description he gave her it sounded a lot like Vinnie Holt but she couldn't be sure. When Ryan started to get tired she had told him that she would go back and see him the next day, he'd just nodded his head and fallen asleep.

Leaving the boys room Beas head felt like it was spinning, she wanted to get out of there, go anywhere, the station was not the place she wanted to be but Franky had insisted that they had to go back and she really didn't have the energy to argue with her. When they got back to the car she'd got in the passenger side leaving Franky to drive. Franky knew there was no point in trying to talk to her, she wouldn't answer and she was glad that Allie would be on her way right then, if Bea was left to deal with her thoughts for the rest of the week alone she would be a mess by the time they got home and she doubted even Allie would get her to talk to her easily. Pulling up at the station she checked the time, just after 4pm, two hours and they could go back to the hotel. As they entered the station they ran into Detective Jones, he informed them that Paul and Davis were still interviewing Warner.

“Looks like their in for a long day, Martin cracked when we interviewed him, he's a talker when he thinks he's in trouble. Warner though…..glad I'm not trying to interview her, we looked in earlier after we finished with Martin.”

“She's still trying to talk her way of it then, even when there's proof.” Bea scoffed.

“You two look like you need coffee, come to the canteen and I'll get you one.”

Franky agreed earning her a disapproving look from a Bea but she still followed close behind, she was tired that was true but she wanted to know what was going on. Getting their coffee Detective Jones sat with them in the now empty canteen,

“You should look in for yourselves, honestly it looked like a war zone between the truth and Warners twisted lies, I'll give her this much she's pretty skilful when it comes to hiding the truth, she's concocting herself a whole maze of lies to try and cover up what she's hiding. I don't think she's quite worked out yet though that all her lies and deceptions require more lies, it's like she a juggler trying to keep everything she says up in the air and to maintain the momentum she's built up she's got to keep adding lies continually, the truth is going to fall out sooner or later and it'll start a whole chain reaction that will bring all her lies crumbling around her. And she doesn't know that it was Martin who's told us so much, the link between her and Holt will come out in no time, right now she's saying she doesn't know who he is even with her financial records proving that he paid for the house and pays money into her account every month. She's got to be doing, or has done something for him to warrant that, but I'm sure I can't work out what.”

Paul and Davis walked into the canteen, neither of them looked happy.

“Would you believe it she says she doesn't want a solicitor because she has nothing to hide the next thing we have to suspend the interview because her solicitor has turned up, they must all think we're dumb, the fucking Holts solicitor, I don't like this, it's going to be a no comment interview from here on in.”

“Don't you have enough evidence to charge her yet?”

“Oh hey Franky, didn't see you there. I reckon we do but the DI wants to wait until they finish searching the house, for some reason it's taking a lot longer than usual, I guess their just being extra thorough with this one.”

“Makes sense I guess.”

Bea glanced at the time, “can we go now?”

Franky looked across at her with a raised eyebrow looking at the time, “yer, I guess, never seen ya so keen to not work though.”

“Well I thought you would want to get back to the hotel, Bridget will be waiting for you won't she?”

“She will bu……”

Franky was interrupted when the DI walked in

“We got her for something, let's see what she has to say for herself when you two tell her about the drugs and guns stored in her garage.”

“Boss......drugs and guns? Never took Warner for the type…..shit….maybe she doesn't even know.”

“Doesn't matter, they were found on her property and I think it may tie her to Vinnie Holt, their bringing everything in now, they also found a child's bike that looks remarkably like the one Ryan was last seen on, solicitor or not, she's getting charged tonight.”

———————————————

“You just had to stay didn't you? I'm tired and hungry but now I can't even be bothered to eat, and I wouldn't blame Bridget if you're in the dog house leaving her hanging around the hotel half the night.”

“Jesus Red, calm down, let me worry about Gidge will ya?”

Bea was mad at Franky, they were two hours later leaving the station than she wanted to be, it was dark and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and call Allie, and since she thought Allie was still at work that just made her even grumpier. She hadn't noticed Franky sending numerous text messages since around five, most of them were to Allie who was now sitting in Beas hotel room in the dark waiting to surprise her, Franky promised to call her phone as soon as they got back but told her not to answer, that was ten minutes ago and Allie was getting impatient, she'd already run a bath for Bea and luckily she'd left the water hotter than she normally would, by the time she got there it should be just the right temperature. When her phone rang she got up and went to the bathroom closing the door behind her and waited silently.

Walking into the hotel Bridget was waiting for them in the lobby,

“You both look exhausted, are you ready to eat?”

Franky said she was starving and Bea declined saying that she just wanted to go to bed. They watched her walk away, head bowed looking at the floor as she walked towards the elevator.

“Allie does know she's on her way up doesn't she?”

“Don't worry Gidge I called her, she'll be hiding somewhere out of sight ready to surprise her, it's been a real bitch trying to keep it from her, come on I'm starving.”

Seeing Franky looking so happy just made her feel worse, she was miserable without Allie, she had never thought it was possible to actually miss anyone that much, sure she missed Debbie but this was on a whole different level, the sadness she felt was more like a hollowness and she couldn't tell which was worse. The hollowness she had felt the last three days felt like a shell, holding in an ocean of tears. Today that shell felt like it was holding in a thousand glass shards that were wedged between her body and soul. Opening her room door she slipped in closing it softly behind her and leaning against it, she felt like nobody even though she was somebody, that somebody was full of pain and sadness, she wasn't even sure that she existed at all when she felt so alone. Allie heard the door open and close but heard no more movement in the room for a couple of minutes so she stayed where she was, afraid to breath in case Bea heard her. Pushing herself off the door Bea kicked off her boots as she walked over to the sofa, her world was etched in charcoal and she didn't even want to turn a light on, nothing could replace the vibrant hues of the sun, it was just a vivid memory now until it rose again in the morning. Sitting on the sofa she threw her head back and closed her eyes as a smile crept across her face when she remembered how Allies blue eyes would sparkle when she laughed. She didn't hear the bathroom door open, she never noticed the flicker of the candle light, she almost jumped out of her skin when she felt someone sit in her lap, opening her eyes she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

“If this is a dream please don't let me wake up.”

“You're already awake babe, I promise you I'm really here.”

Lifting her head up from the back of the sofa Bea couldn't quite believe it,

“But how?…..you had to work……you said you were working double shifts!” The look of confusion was plainly evident even in the half light of the room.

“Ok so Franky called me, asked if I could get some time off, it was her idea, she didn't want you to be alone, but now I'm thinking that it might have been a waste of time because you don't look all that happy to see me.”

“What? How can you even think that….I’m just tired, today has been a nightmare, even worse than yesterday, and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed next to you.”

“When did you last eat?”

“Errrr…….this morning,” Bea admitted her voice barely above a whisper.

“Then it's a good thing I'm here, I've run you a bath, go and have a soak and I'll order us something from room service.”

Allie got up and held out her hand pulling Bea up from the sofa and gently pulled her towards the bathroom. Bea wasn't going to argue, there was no point, Allie was right like she always was. After stripping herself she slowly lowered herself into the bath as the water enveloped her as closely as her own skin she let out a sigh. She lay back in the water, closing her eyes as she heard Allie on the phone ordering them something to eat, the sound of her voice in the background along with the water soothed her, her mind drifted to the few times they had spent apart, the last night they had actually been apart was the last night Allie stayed at Boomers, she thought she'd missed her then, but the last few days had made her realise that she didn't want to be away from home, she loved the work, it was always interesting but being away from home was not something she wanted to do anymore. Opening her eyes she moved her arm through the water feeling the water move softly around her outstretched fingers, raising her hand out of the water she watched as the water dripped from her fingers. Allie walked back into the bathroom to tell her that she needed to get out and get dry before their food arrived. Reluctantly she placed her palms on each side of the tub and pushed down hard and fast lifting herself out, stepping out of the tub she walked straight into the outstretched towel that Allie was holding for her, as they looked into each other's eyes the knock on the door brought them both back to reality, quickly leaving the bathroom Allie closed the door behind her and went to the door accepting the sandwiches that she'd ordered for them just as Franky and Bridget were walking back to their room.

“Ya convinced her to eat then blondie?”

“She didn't need much convincing really.”

“Good, she's not eaten since breakfast…..oh and blondie keep the noise down would ya, were only in the next room.”

“Piss off Doyle, if you hear me banging on the wall then ya know you're too loud, and I don't want Bea disturbing she looks like she hasn't slept since you've been here.”

Franky just chuckled as they walked to their door,

“I knew there was a reason I liked ya.”

Allie retreated back into their room finding Bea laying on the bed still wrapped in a towel.

“I just got us a sandwich, thought it was too late for anything else.”

“Hmmm, yer, I guess your right, but I'm not that hungry babe.”

“You either eat something or sleep on the sofa.”

“I don't remember saying I wasn't going to eat, did you hear me say that?”

“Nice save babe, we'll eat then I'm going to have a shower.”

Sitting on the bed together they ate in silence, Bea found that she was hungrier than she thought she was and quickly ate her sandwich.

“Guess you won't be sleeping on the sofa after all,” Allie giggled as she walked towards the bathroom, stripping off as she went leaving a trail of clothes across the room.

As soon as she disappeared into the bathroom Bea stretched out on the bed with her arms behind her head and waited for her to finish up, laying in the darked room Bea could have easily fallen asleep but she wasn't going to allow herself that luxury until Allie was right by her side. She must have dozed off for a few minutes because the first time she registered that Allie was back in the room with her was when she felt Allies towel clad body snuggle up beside her, her head resting on her chest. Opening her eyes she moved her hands from behind her head, something felt different for a reason she just couldn't quite fathom, the feeling of Allie so close to her made her whole body tingle, maybe it was the four nights they had spent apart. Allie moved her head to rest it on Beas shoulder,

“I thought you were asleep?”

“Not a chance, I was just resting my eyes while I waited for you.”

“So you're not tired then?”

Bea shook her head against the pillow, in the darkness of their room she just wanted to enjoy the closeness that had been denied her for too long, enjoy the smell of Allies hair as she lay her head on her shoulder. Allie moved her head to rest it on the pillow beside Bea,

“What's on your mind?”

Bea rolled over onto her side and Allie fixed her expressive blue eyes on her, “You can tell me.”

Bea swallowed hard, “You really want to know?” She asked her eyes meeting Allies gaze as she breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly and almost silently.

Allie reached her arm up letting her fingers trace down Beas jawline causing Beas whole body to shiver under her gentle touch, “Yes, I do,” Allie whispered.

The softness in Allies voice melted away all the fears that Bea had held in all week as she leaned forward until their lips met, as their soft lips met in a gentle kiss igniting a passion in both of them and Allies hand found its way to the back of Beas neck deepening the kiss and she slipped her tongue into Beas mouth, Bea moaned loudly and the vibrations added to the sensuality of the kiss as their tongues moved together. Bea pulled Allie on top of her as their tongues continued to explore each other's mouths. Maybe it was just the few days they had been apart but Bea thought she had never felt anything like the kiss they were sharing, the feeling of Allies still towel clad body against hers had sparked a hunger in her that she had never felt before. Allies hands softly slid down Beas body to her hips, as their kisses grew more heated. Breaking their kiss when they were both gasping for air Allie breathlessly whispered in Beas ear, “I love you.”

Allie pulled herself away from Bea and looked down at her, straddling her hips she smiled down at her as she watched Bea reach for her towel her fingers slightly trembling with desire and trepidation, releasing the towel that surrounded Allie she let it fall before Allie reached behind her and threw it on the floor, Allie saw the emotion in Beas eyes as she watched her, it didn't matter how many times Bea had seen her naked she couldn't stop the thought that Allie had never looked more more beautiful in that moment entering her head. Allie reached down loosening the towel that Bea was still wearing allowing it to fall to her sides before Bea reached out for Allie, gently pulling her back on top of her body as their mouths locked together again.

Allies hands moved urgently over Beas body as Bea buried her face in Allies neck, breathing in the smell of her skin as she nuzzled her neck with her lips. Allies hands traveled delicately the cup the curve of Beas breasts giving them a gentle squeeze as Bea writhed beneath her, her moans of pleasure echoed around their quiet room as Allie changed her position so she could softly take one of her nipples into her mouth softly sucking on it. Beas hands slid between them so she could take Allies breasts in her hands, rolling he nipples between her thumb and finger making Allie gasp,

“I missed you so much,” Allie breathed as she moved her mouth to Beas other breast to give it the same attention.

Beas hand on Allies breasts were driving her wild with desire as she tried to fight back the need to be touched, she kissed her way down Beas body until she was resting between Beas slightly trembling thighs, Bea was gasping for breath as she felt Allies tongue circled her throbbing clit. Beas hips bucked against Allie as her body silently begged for more, gently entering Bea with two fingers she she built up a steady rhythm as she continued what she was doing with her tongue as she felt Bea shiver violently as her orgasm overwhelmed her cupping her hand over her mouth to try and stifle the moans that threaten to leave her mouth, as much as she hated to do it there was no way she could put up with Franky's constant teasing the next next day. Allie crawled her way back up Beas body and into her arms relishing the loving embrace that she found herself enveloped in.

  
“If you could have one wish what would it be?” Allie whispered.

Bea closed her eyes for a few moments as she thought of her answer, opening her eyes again as the only answer she could find entered her head.

“I'd wish that the beautiful woman who's in my arms right now would stay with me forever,” Bea whispered back.

Allie felt tears building in her eyes as she leaned forward to kiss Bea softly on the lips, pulling back and looking her in the eyes she smiled,

“Wish granted,” she said as she pulled Bea closer to her body as they drifted off to sleep still laying on top of the covers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be busy for the next couple of days, isn't it amazing what you find to do when the sun finally decides to stop hiding? 
> 
> (I'm guessing Father Time got sick of Mother Nature nagging his ear off for not asking for directions to spring!)


	103. Chapter 103

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The few days of really warm weather has prevented me from writing since I spent most of my time gardening and by the time I got back inside I was way too tired to write, but thanks to my habit of writing at stupid o'clock I've finally finished this chapter.

A loud banging on Beas door made her jump out of her sleeping state almost knocking Allie completely off the bed. If there was one thing Bea hated more than her morning alarm it was being woken up by someone else so suddenly, her brain was foggy and she had no idea what was happening when her phone started ringing, grabbing it she saw Franky's name in the screen.

“What the fuck Franky?”

“Red we gotta go!”

“What, go where? What time is it?”

“We gotta get to the station, Warners cracked even her solicitor ain't gonna shut her up. Oh and it's 5am, bet you've only just got to sleep ay?”

“Shut the fuck up Franky, we've been asleep for hours.”

“Yer, course ya have now are ya letting me in or not?”

Suddenly realising that they were both still naked Bea said she would meet her in the lobby in 20 minutes, Franky naturally took that opportunity to throw a crude remark into her ear before the line went dead.

Allie had snuggled back up to Bea a look of confusion etched on her face, she glanced upwards, her eyes fixed as if she were staring at something off in the distance. After Bea said her name a couple of times she blinked trying to refocus her eyes,

“What's going on?”

“I'm sorry, I have to go back to the police station.”

“Oh…..I was hoping we could have breakfast together, but if you have to go I guess it's just me and Bridget.”

“I'll make it up to you later, I promise, I won't let Franky keep me out too late.”

Allie smiled at her, her eyes shining so impossibly blue, so blue that anyone who saw them might think that she actually had the sky behind them.

After getting off the bed Bea quickly went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and freshened up, cursing Franky quietly under her breath for not having enough time to have a shower, after getting dressed she kissed Allie and told her to try and go back to sleep before leaving their room and running down the two flights of stairs to the lobby, finding Franky leaning against the wall waiting for her.

“So what exactly is going on?”

“I got a call from Davis, and trust me Gidge is just as unhappy about this as I guess blondie is, they've been called back in, seems Jess couldn't handle another night in her cell and threw a tantrum, sounds like a good thing they were keeping a very close eye on her.”

“And what has that got to do with us?”

“They thought we would want to hear what she has to say, if ya not interested I'll go on my own and let ya get back to blondie.”

“I'm up now, you made sure of that so I'm going with you, but I want to go back and see Ryan later and I guess we better meet his parents this time.”

Arriving at the station they were taken into a room by a uniformed officer telling them that Paul would be with them in a few minutes. Paul arrived with coffee apologising for the early hour explaining that they had had to have Warner checked over again before she could be interviewed, and now they were just waiting for her solicitor to arrive. Her tantrum had been immediate and violent, there had been no winding up period, she had appeared to have been asleep for around four hours before she exploded without warning. It had been full force from the second she had opened her eyes, like a bomb that had no fuse, it was just an immediate explosion, unlike a bomb though it had gone on for quite some time before her rage finally burned itself out. She had tried to justify herself, make excuses for her behaviour and then tried to blame her whole outburst on someone else. A short while later she had demanded to see the detectives that had interviewed her because she wanted to tell them the truth. Davis walked into the room letting them know that her solicitor had arrived and that Warner would be into the interview room in a few minutes.

“I have to turn the light off in here, we thought you'd want to see how this plays out,”

“Yer, didn't think ya really had rooms like this,” Franky said as she looked around the room.

“It's the only one in the station, we record the interview obviously but sometimes we have observers, it's generally used for police officials to observe us for any misconduct in our questioning techniques, but in this case the DI was happy for you both to observe so pull up a chair and get comfortable.”

Paul turned the light off as he left the room leaving Bea and Franky alone wondering what she would actually say, pulling up a chair each they sat in front of the glass waiting for someone to enter the interview room, the first people in were Jess and her solicitor. Jess stood looking down at her feet like a nervous teenager her hands firmly tucked in her jeans pockets, in appearance she was nothing special just another girl who had been brought up believing that she could do no wrong, stick thin and in that moment pale as a ghost. She was so ordinary looking you wouldn't believe that she could have done the things she had, if you had only ever seen her once you would never be able to pick her out in a crowd of people her own age. She wasn't too tall or too short, looking at her more closely you could tell that her skin was neither too fair or too tanned, her hair was brown not too long and not too short. Her eyes were green, symmetrically shaped with long eyelashes and perfectly trimmed eyebrows. Her solicitor told her to sit down and after she did she followed suit, Nina Spencer sat in her seat in her crisp suit tapping her foot on the floor, her black hair tied in a tight bun, all very professional looking but they knew she represented the Holts and guessed that she would have a few tricks up her sleeve. Franky studied her a little longer noticing that she would glance down at the paperwork in front of her as if she were considering her options, she could just imagine what her office would look like, furnished with the most expensive items and in the most exclusive part of the city, she'd seen her in court once and knew that she had perfected the art of argument in legalistic language, yet sitting there she looked a little nervous, maybe it was because she knew she no longer had any control over what Jess was about to say or maybe it was because the Holts would make her suffer for not keeping Jess quiet.

Paul and Davis entered the room not too long later, both carrying rather large files, placing them down on the table they apologised for not being there sooner and then took their seats, after advising Jess once more of her rights they proceeded with the interview. Jess knew what she had done was wrong, she'd tried so hard to lie her way out of it, tried to justify to herself what she had done, but after having to work so hard at it she'd given up and was finally ready to come clean. Paul started asking her a few easy questions, he wasn't convinced she was going to tell the truth and having asked the same questions before knowing that she had lied, because he knew the truth, was waiting for the lies to begin again, this time however she answered truthfully. Moving on to questions that needed much more in depth answers he was shocked when she told him the whole story, showing her various photographs of evidence that had been collected she kept on telling the truth. When it came to what was found in the garage she fell silent, a look of horror on her face, asking her questions it was apparent that she had no idea that any of what was found in the garage was there, she admitted that she let people use the garage for storage and that she didn't go in there, she had no car and no need for the garage. The realization of what it had been used for squeezed at her brain, obliterating the thinking she needed to answer the questions, she didn't want to say who used the garage eventually giving in to her conscience she told them everything she could think of. Paul suspended the interview saying that he thought Jess could use a break after asking if she wanted a coffee Davis went to fetch them. Jess sat there silently looking at the wall directly behind Paul, she should feel guilty for what she had done but she didn't, what she had done couldn't be un done, she could try and make amends but she didn't want to, her confession wasn't done because she wanted to tell the truth, she knew she was going to prison and she hoped that showing that she had cooperated fully would give her a lighter sentence, Jess Warner did nothing in the interests of others, everything she did was for purely selfish reasons and nothing more. After a short break they continued the interview for another hour before ending it and taking her back to the custody suit to be formally charged.

Beas head felt like it was spinning, she could hardly believe what she had heard, Jess Warner had taken Ryan just because she had seen him as she had passed the school he went to on numerous occasions and seen him in the playground, she'd decided that he looked like the perfect little boy, the perfect little boy that she so desperately wanted, she'd watched his every move for weeks and got Jason Weston to help her by telling him she would tell Vinnie Holt all about his side business, he knew that If you worked for Vinnie you didn't do anything without his approval and Jason didn't like that. Jess hadn't wanted to talk about Jason and had fell silent when she had been asked if she knew anything about the remains that had been found in the garden of his house, since they were still waiting on a positive identification they had dropped that line of questioning almost as soon as they had started. When they had moved onto the subject of Luke her response was that Sky was a friend and she had gone over to see her, finding her dead and Luke screaming in another room, she had taken him she said because he deserved a better life than what he had. Bea could have laughed at that, a better life, she couldn't imagine that Jess could give anybody a better life. She had been charged and returned to her cell when Paul and Davis went back to to get them.

“Ya reckon she has no idea who killed Sky?” Franky asked.

“Don't actually believe that for a second, I think she's too scared to say and I think this has Vinnie Holt written all over it, no idea if her murder was covered up so that's more work for us, but nothing for you to worry about.”

“Guess we've done what we needed to do, you don't mind if we head off to the hospital now do you?”

“Not at all, I think Ryan will be pleased to see you, he's not keen on any of the officers that are around. We'll let you both know if we make any headway with the rest of the investigation, for now I think the pair of you should just enjoy the rest of the time you've got in Sydney.”

Reaching the hospital they made their way to Ryan and Luke's room coming face to face with with Ryan's parents for the first time. Ryan's dad almost jumped out of his chair hugging Franky then Bea, pulling away from Bea he quickly wiped a tear from his eye with his finger,

“I don't know how to thank you enough for everything you've both done, when Greg Taylor told us he had asked for your help we didn't know what to think, all the time we though he was doing what we were paying him for and he did nothing.”

Bea couldn't say anything, her brain seemed unable to formulate a single thought, Franky saw her struggle and took charge of the situation.

“We were only doing our jobs, and after meeting Ryan we're both really happy that we agreed to help.”

“You have no idea how happy we are that you agreed to look for him, we never expected to find him alive, the last couple of years we'd almost given up hope and then you found him, I've no idea how you did it.”

“We didn't do anything much and we couldn't have done it so quickly without the police being willing to reopen the case, we would have done everything in our power to get him home but it would have taken a lot longer.”

Ryan complaining that he wanted to speak to Bea halted the conversation as his dad just laughed,

“I think you've found your biggest fan there.” He chuckled.

Luke as always was laying on Ryan's bed and it was hard to think that he had no one else in the world to look out for him, for five years he had followed Ryan everywhere, they did everything together and Bea couldn't stop the profound sadness that she felt when she thought about them eventually being split up. She couldn't imagine how Luke would take the loss, Ryan was his friend, his big brother, that was a loss that would turn his world upside down and make it collapse, where he saw light he would only find darkness, he would either be returned to a family member or would find himself in a system that was overstretched, maybe he would find himself placed with a loving foster family, but he would struggle and he had done nothing to deserve where he now found himself. Ryan's parents left the room with Franky to continue their conversation not wanting to talk in front of the boys leaving Bea to sit and talk with them. Luke seemed different than he had the last time she had seen him, he was more talkative and he made Bea laugh when he told her a story about something Ryan had done while Jess wasn't looking. An hour later the room was bursting with excitement when Paul entered the room giving them the good news that the DNA test results were back and that Ryan was free to go home as soon as the hospital were ready to discharge him. Luke sat up looking around at everyone,

“What about me?” He asked quietly.

The room fell silent, Paul knew that he didn't have an answer for him, they had his DNA results and he was Brandon Martins son, Brandon had no real interest in Luke, he had no family who could take Luke to live with them and Sky had never known her family spending her life bouncing around in foster care the whole time she was growing up. Getting off Luke's bed he climbed into Beas lap and cuddled up to her as he quietly sobbed into her chest. She held him just as she had Debbie when she was younger and was upset, she wasn't his mum, could never replace her or what he was about to lose and that was all he wanted, he held onto her so tightly as if staying in her arms would make all the bad in his life disappear. She felt her heart break for him, like grief it came in waves, felt like a shard of glass in her guts that she thought may never leave, in the quiet of the room the only sound were Luke's quiet sobs, that sound as it hit Beas ears felt as if it might choke the breath from her body and short circuit her mind. She wanted to leave, go back to the hotel and just cry but he needed her and she wasn't going to push him away. The sound of his sobbing diminished in frequency until all that could be heard were his sniffles, Ryan had sat watching her the whole time, he knew that he had no one, Luke wasn't going home to his mum and dad, no one was looking for him and he felt guilty that he could go back home.

“Bea, what's going to happen?” Ryan asked, sadness evident in his voice.

“I don't know,” she lied, she knew where he would end up and that wasn't a pleasant thought.

  
“Do you think Luke could come home with me?”

“Honestly I have no idea……he's like your little brother isn't he?”

“Yes, we've always been together, when Jess was in a bad mood or didn't want us around and locked us in our room we always had each other.”

Noticing that Luke had fallen asleep she stood up slowly laying him on Ryan's bed before she left the room to find everyone else.

———————————————

Allie and Bridget had been back at the hotel for no more than ten minutes when Bea and Franky left the hospital, on the drive back over Bea was quieter than usual, she couldn't stop thinking about what was going to happen to Luke. The silence between them was putting Franky on edge, she was used to her not speaking but she had even turned the radio off and that was about as normal as deserted streets in the Sydney rush hour.

“You're overthinking everything.”

“What?”

“You're worried about Luke, it's going to work itself out one way or another, someone from child protective services is going to see him later, he's going to be fine Bea, Paul already said he's going to do everything he can to help.”

“Yer, and what happens when he ends up in the foster system? He's not going to handle that well.”

“I don't know Red, I just know it'll work out in the end, ya do know Ryan's parents are registered foster carers right?”

“Just how am I meant to know that?”

“Oh yer…..you stayed with the boys, I was talking to Ryan's mum, they started fostering about two years ago.”

Arriving back at the hotel Bea wasn't in any mood to hang around with Franky and went straight back to her room finding Allie sitting on the sofa reading a magazine. As soon as she heard the door close she looked up seeing Bea standing there looking worried.

“Are you ok babe?”

Bea sighed and sat on the sofa next to her.

“This is about the boys isn't it?”

Allie could always tell what was wrong before she even said a word, sometimes Bea wondered if everything she worried about was actually written on her skin, Allie would sense a sudden change in her mood, she'd always seem to know what she was thinking, part of Bea liked that because she knew she could tell her anything although sometimes that wasn't always great, the Dana situation had proved that to her. Allie sat shuffled closer to her and Bea felt as though all her worries were lifted off her shoulders when Allie ran her thumb down her cheek before kissing her gently on her forehead. Bea looked at her, she was like her knight in shining armour and she doubted that she even realized that. Resting her head on Allies shoulder she closed her eyes, Allie could tell she was slowly dozing off after a few minutes, she'd had hardly any sleep before she arrived, she expected it to happen before long. Bea opened her eyes for a few seconds before they closed again making Allie smile. Her body slowly leaned into Allie as her whole body went limp, Allie was pleased to just sit with her as she slept, when the complex workings of her conscious mind stopped long enough for her to sleep she looked so vulnerable and childlike, her breaths were even and calm and the expression on her was no longer stressed but relaxed.

Waking up a couple of hours later she felt happier than she had earlier in the day, moving her head from Allies shoulder she rested it against the back of the sofa.

“You missed lunch didn't you?”

“Hmmmm…..I wasn't hungry.”

“And now?”

“Starving!”

Allie couldn't help but giggle at her.

“Debbie called me earlier, she asked if we wanted to meet her for dinner, so….am I calling her back and arranging when and where?”

“How does Deb know you're here?”

“I might have sent her a text before we left Melbourne, I though we could spend a little time with her before we go home.”

“So you can let Debs know you're going to be here but not me?”

“Hey, in my defence it was you I wanted to surprise not Debbie.”

Surprise was never an emotion that Bea had ever taken well, generally no one ever tried to surprise her with anything anymore, Franky had almost been punched a few times when a surprise had backfired on her, but when Allie had sat in her lap the previous day it was as if she knew instantly who it was even though she hadn't seen her, and that had been the best surprise she'd ever had.

“Am I calling Debbie while you have a shower or are we staying here?”

Words completely left Bea as she looked into those blue sparkling eyes that she loved, sure that the only thing she could hear was her heart beating.

“You going to give me an answer?”

“What….sorry, yer call her back, I'll have a shower and get ready.”

Just over an hour later they walked into the diner that Debbie wanted to meet them at, naturally Debbie was already waiting for them, when they walked in hand in hand she just rolled her eyes.

“Ok so I guess I can let bring ten minutes late slide, if you'd have been any longer I wasn't going to wait for you.”

“Sorry about that, your mum was taking her time in the shower.”

“Yer I'll bet.”

  
“Hey it's the truth, I was waiting forever for her, and that was after she told me she was starving.”

“Well mum you can't be starving then can you, I am so hurry up and decided what you're gonna order before I die of hunger over here.”

Once they had placed their order Bea sat back watching and listening to Debbie and Allie talk, joke with each other, she loved how well they got on for anyone who didn't know they had only known each other a few short months they would have sworn that Allie had known her her whole life. She could relax more just knowing that Debbie felt comfortable talking to Allie about anything and as it seemed in that moment, everything and nothing at all. They made her smile even more after their food arrived, watching them eat was more like a competition. The three of them spent two hours together before Debbie said she had to be getting back, she had an essay to finish but promised to meet them at Gloria's on Sunday morning for breakfast.

On the drive back to the hotel Allie had hardly stopped talking, telling her about her and Bridget's shopping trip while her and Franky were out, she never minded though, Allie could talk a mile a minute when she was excited about something and Bea rarely got more than a few words in. Glancing over at Allie she smiled, she knew that what they had couldn't be replicated, it was just the two of them, ‘best team ever,’ she thought to herself. She knew even if she were to travel the whole world she'd still have to go straight back to Allie, they were all they needed, they protected each other, confided in each other, trusted each other and loved each other, no matter how hard any case was Allie would be there, keeping her safe from falling apart. The thought occurred to her as they arrived back at the hotel that whether her heart beat for one more day or for another hundred years it would always belong to Allie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like we're back to our usual spring temperatures for the foreceeable future so I more than likely will write more than I have this week.


	104. Chapter 104

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting, I've had a slightly bad week as far as staying focused on writing goes.

Over breakfast the next morning Allie and Bridget informed Bea and Franky that they had booked a lunch cruise around Sydney harbour, telling the pair that if they received any phone calls that were work related they had better say that they had plans for the day. As Bridget had said when Franky tried to argue they had done their jobs, the boys were safe and Jess Warner was where she should be, for them the case was over and it was down to the police to do the rest. Bea had tried to argue that it was Saturday and was still a working day for them but soon backed down when Allie reminded her how much the case had taken out of her, they both needed some time to relax and if Bea even thought for a single second about rushing off anywhere she would be sleeping on the sofa. As much as she wanted to go back and see Ryan and Luke she quickly put the thought out of her mind as best she could, hearing Franky start laughing she glared across the table at her before kicking her under the table. Finishing their breakfasts Bea asked where they were leaving from, hearing that they had to be at Circular Quay by 12:15 made her smile when she glanced at the time as they were leaving the restaurant.

“Why ya looking so happy Red?”

“Well it's only just gone eight and Circular Quay is only a short walk from the Royal Botanic Garden, and you heard Allie say we need to relax so I was thinking that we should grab what we need and head over there for the morning.”

Bridget and Allie agreed, Franky rolled her eyes before agreeing, the only thing Franky ever wanted to do in any garden, especially her own, was sit in the sun.

“Who's drivin, me or you?” Franky asked as they arrived outside Bea and Allies door.

“Neither of us, if we take the car and we get a call one of us will be tempted to rush off, one of us will be sleeping on the sofa if that happens, you still want to take the car?”

Franky looked between Bridget and Allie, the looks on their faces told her instantly what her answer should be.

“Na, we'll get a taxi, and on the bright side we can have a drink with lunch and not have to worry.”

Franky had already called for a taxi to pick them up outside the hotel so they didn't have to wait around, she wasn't over excited about Beas plan but Bridget hadn't stopped talking about it since they walked into their room. Once they were all seated in the taxi Bea told the driver they wanted to go to Central Station, as soon as they set off Franky questioned her about their destination not convinced that Bea knew where she was going.

Bea and Allie walked off in front followed by Bridget as Franky lagged behind a little way expecting any second for Bea to say she was lost but when she realised they were getting a little too far ahead she sped up. From Central Station they walked down Elizabeth Street and through Hyde Park and The Domain and onto the Botanic Gardens.

“Hey Red I though ya said blondie doesn't like walking, don't hear her complaining about being dragged all this way.”

Allie looked behind her and Franky grinning back at her.

“I don't like walking unless it's worth it, and since Beas gone along with with our plan for lunch I think it's worth it, you got a problem with that Doyle?”

Before Franky could respond Bridget answered for her,

“Ignore her Allie she doesn't have a problem with it, I think she's a little mad that Bea thought of it first.”

“Ha, Na, wouldn't have thought of something so lame, Reds the one with the lame ideas.”

“Shut it Franky, you know I always have the better ideas,” Bea laughed.

Entering the gardens Franky fell quiet as they walked through the lush parkland, taking notice of her surroundings for probably the first time that morning she was slightly amazed by the views, they were close to the opera house and Farm Cove, she had to admit that she didn't think a place like that could actually exist so close to the waterfront. Bea knew where she wanted to go as they walked down a path that passed by glasshouses full of orchids and begonias and on past a pond that was brimming with lotus flowers. Passing by the oldest tree in the world, the Wollemi Pine, they continued walking as their eyes and ears were drawn skywards, high above them in the treetops the place was alive with squawking cockatoos, lorikeets and white ibis. Their final destination, The Calyx, soon coming into view, the white arches drawing their attention. Bea had heard about the largest living plant wall exhibition the week before and hadn't thought she would get any time out to see it, much less get to share the experience with Allie. The flower wall was a living, breathing, blooming surface a display more vivid than any rainbow. A mass of white and coloured orchids, delicate bell shaped flowers of the abutilons that hung like small lanterns, chrysanthemums all alongside ornamental leaf plants, it was a true kaleidoscope of colour, an absolutely beautiful sight. Bridget mentioned that the only place she had ever seen anything like it was in the Botanic Gardens in Singapore. The four of them had sat on a bench for a while admiring what was right in front of them and even Franky had to admit that it was a breathtaking sight. They retreated to the Calyx Cafe for a coffee before they had to start their walk back.

That arrived at Circular Quay with five minutes to spare and were allowed to board the 52 foot boat almost as soon as they arrived. They were shown to the 360 degree viewing deck and told that they were only waiting for one other small group.

“So tell me Gidge why a boat? We could have gone anywhere for lunch and you two come up with a boat?”

“Has no one ever told you Franky taking to the water is compulsory if you want to get a real feel for Sydney?”

“Never heard that, what can ya see from the water that ya can't see from dry land?”

“Its a completely different vantage point, you see everything differently from the water.”

“If ya say so, guess I'll find out.”

As a few other people were shown onto the viewing deck everyone was informed that they would be escorted to their tables in the dining room as soon as lunch was ready to be served which would be in a little over an hours time. Franky set off in search of the bar after asking what they all wanted returning a few minutes later just as they were sailing past the opera house, passing out their drinks she still didn't get what all the fuss was about, the opera house didn't look all that different to her, it was a little better view but that was all it was to her. Sailing under the harbour bridge was a magnificent sight that unfolded on that crystal clear day, even Franky had to admit that she was wouldn't have wanted to miss the experience. The bridge was impressive, as the sun shone down on it’s steel lacework it looked perfectly proportioned, Allie commented that it resembled a giant rainbow. To the right of the bridge was Lunar Park, Franky jokingly said she would enjoy the day more if they had gone there, but after Bridget whispered in her ear she soon forgot about it and looked out over the sparkling blue water. All four of them looked on as they approached Fort Denison, one of the crew appeared on the viewing deck explaining to the assembled two groups that the island it used to be called Pinchgut was part of the Sydney Harbour National park, it was originally a penal island where the prisoners were just left with very little food, it later became a military site and it had the most complete example of a Martello Tower anywhere in the world, a couple of people from the other group asked a few questions about the island which were adequately answered right before another member of the crew came to tell everyone that lunch would be served shortly.

Once seated in the dining room they spent most of their time looking out of the large picture windows while they ate at the varied scenery that they passed, they passed everything from sandstone cliffs and the rocky foreshore to the quiet beaches of Nielsen Park with its large rocks and walking tracks to explore, Milk Beach was tucked into the base of Hermit Bay and looked like it would be a great place to swim. After they finished their lunch the other group wondered off to sit in the atrium while the four of them went back up to the viewing deck, as they approached Rose Bay Beach the smile on Allies face was as bright as the sun itself as she looked on over the beach and on to the impressive homes in the leafy suburb of Rose Bay. Bea snapped a couple of pictures of her before walking up behind her and wrapping her arms round her waist. The happiness she felt radiating from her was infectious, for Bea that happiness started as a tingle in her fingers and toes, a lot like what she had experienced when she was anxious, but this feeling was different, it wasn't worrisome it was warm, as warm as a warm ocean wave washing away any remaining stress she felt and refreshing her inside. Franky looked over at them with a smile, nudging Bridget before she grabbed her phone from her pocket snapping a couple of pictures of them together.

After three hours out in the harbour they returned to Circular Quay and headed back to the hotel. Entering the lobby of the hotel they spotted Greg and Erica sitting on one of the sofas obviously waiting for them.

“Fuck what are they doing here?” Franky mumbled to Bea.

“No idea, but I know Allie and Bridget aren't going to be happy.”

“Ya think?”

Greg was already on his feet walking towards them with an envelope in his hand, Allie spotted him whispering to Bea wanting to know who he was.

“You're not going anywhere are you?”

“No, he's an idiot, don't even know how he found out where we are staying.”

“Ladies I'm sorry to disturb you I just wanted to drop this off with you.” He said as he handed the envelope over to Bea.

“You could have just sent it to our office.”

“I could but it's a cheque for what I owe you and Erica thought it was better if we gave it you in person.”

Erica appeared at his side a few seconds later, Allie still holding Beas hand took an instant dislike to her, she couldn't put her finger on what it was but she didn't like her, and she certainly didn't like the way she was looking at Bea.

“We haven't met, Erica Davidson you must be Bea,” she said as she held out her hand, Bea shook her hand as Allie watched on noticing that Erica let her fingers linger a little longer on Beas hand than she should have as Bea pulled her hand away.

“Franky, good to see you again, you both did a really great job.”

“Yer well some of us know how to do our jobs ya know.”

“Hmmmm, actually I’d like to speak to you about that.”

Bridget had been watching Allie the whole time and had spotted how tense she was with Erica around.

“As skilled in their jobs as they both are I don't think this is the time and the place, so if you really want to speak to them may I suggest that you make an appointment to see them once we are back in Melbourne, I'm sure any professional discussions you may want to have would be much better suited to office hours.”

Erica looked a little shocked at Bridget's sudden interest in the conversation, looking back at Bea and then Allie she walked away, closely followed by Greg who mumbled an apology as he left.

Back in their room Allie was quiet, she sat on the sofa staring at the tv while Bea was on the phone with David who had just called her from the office letting her know that a prospective client had called into the office but he wasn't able to offer any assistance so Liz had made an appointment for her to see them on Monday afternoon. She knew Bea was going to know something was wrong but she didn't want to say anything about it, it was obvious Bea hadn't even noticed the way Erica had looked at her, so why tell her she could have been imagining it couldn't she? She was sure she wasn't. She'd always felt insecure, that she wasn't good enough even when Bea had told her that she was more than she deserved she'd always manage to turn that around and tell her that she deserved everything and it had taken her what felt like forever to get her to start to believe her. Her life had always been shit until she met Bea, everyone had always left her or just used her so why would she think that Bea would be any different, deep down in her heart she knew Bea wouldn't leave her but her insecurities just took over and she couldn't stop them. She couldn't help comparing herself to Erica, they were around the same height, but Allie just felt ordinary, and she thought that was a generous assessment of herself, Erica from what she'd seen looked like she'd just been cut from the pages of a men's magazine, she guessed that if she looked in a copy of GQ she'd know exactly how she'd look only dressed in lingerie and she didn't feel like she could compete with that. She worked in a bar, Erica must be more successful than she ever could be judging by the way she dressed and she was well educated she could tell that by the way she spoke, Allie had only scraped through high school because of her gran. She couldn't see how she could ever compete with someone like Erica who obviously takes everything they say in the fashion magazines to heart, probably starves herself and is more self absorbed than a tadpoles tail. The awful truth was that she wanted an accident to happen to Erica’s face, nothing too terrible, just something that would make her look ordinary, something that would make her see what it was like to be nothing special, to be that girl that no one would be willing to trip over themselves to get to.

Bea finished her call and was just about to call Franky to let her know about Monday afternoon when she looked over at Allie seeing tears in her eyes, she threw her phone down on the bed and walked over to her kneeling on the floor in front of her taking her hands in hers.

“Alliecat what's wrong?”

Allie shook her head as she tried to blink the remaining unshed tears from her eyes.

“Allie, please…tell me what's wrong…have I upset you? I was only talking to David, I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying right here with you.”

“It's nothing, just forget it.”

“Obviously it's something, please tell me…I'll just keep asking until you do and you know how stubborn I can be.”

Allie felt as if she couldn't breath, it felt as if someone was choking her, her heart was racing and all she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and wait for the feeling to subside. A choked cry forced itself out of her mouth as she felt another tear run down her cheek, it felt like the end of the road as if this would be the last time she would have Bea right in front of her. Letting go of Allies hands she pulled herself up from the floor dropping down onto the sofa next to Allie pulling her in close. Allie could hear her heart banging in her ears, her mind buzzed like an electrical circuit that had been struck by lightening as the words she wanted to say became scrambled inside her head. Bea just held her she couldn't work out what could possibly be wrong, everything had been perfect before they got back to the hotel she couldn't understand what had changed so quickly. Allie calmed down a few minutes later and pulled away slightly from Bea.

“I'm sorry, I let my head run away with itself.”

“Tell me what I did wrong and I'll try and make it right, I hate seeing you like this.”

“It wasn't you, you didn't do anything wrong…..I just…..I saw how she looked at you, and I know you didn't even notice, but I can't help it, you deserve to be with someone so much better than I am, I'm just a fuck up.”

“What? I don't understand, how who looked at me?”

“Erica, you didn't even notice did you?”

“No, why would I? You're all I want, there is no one better than you, and you're not a fuck up, you've only ever done what you've needed to do to survive, the same as I did, I don't want anyone else why would I? You're perfect Allie and don't you ever forget that.”

“I'm just being stupid I know.”

“You're not stupid, I've never thought that and I never will, you know you can talk to me when something's on your mind, as for Erica, that was the first time I ever met her and to be honest I don't know what it is but there's something about her I don't like.”

Allie sunk back into Beas side not wanting to move for the rest of the day.

“Allie, I want to show you something, you trust me right?”

Allie just nodded her head, she couldn't think of anything that Bea could want to show her. Bea pulled away from Allie and stood up, getting her phone from the bed she called Franky and told her not to wait for them when her and Bridget went for dinner because they were going out, Franky was puzzled but figured that she'd ask her what was going on later. Putting her phone in her pocket she picked up the car keys as she saw Allie walking out of the bathroom, taking her by the hand she led her down to the car, opening the door for her she waited for her to get in before closing the door and walking round the car. Allie was curious to know where they were going and it became a little more obvious to her when they pulled up in the car park of the children's hospital.

“I'm going to show you the only thing I was here for, as much as I didn't want to have to leave you at home there are two boys in there that needed me and Franky, Greg and Erica did nothing to help them, I’m going to show you why I could never want anyone like her.”

Allie didn't say anything she let her lead her through the hospital until they got to the boys room, there was still an officer outside their door and Bea had a quick word with him, she smiled and nodded and let them enter the room. Ryan and Luke were laying on the bed watching tv as they walked in, Luke was the first one to notice that anyone was there,

“Bea, you came back to see us.” Luke squealed as he jumped off the bed and ran to her throwing his arms round her legs.

“Did you hear, has anyone told you, I'm going home with Ryan his mum and dad want me to live with them and the lady who came to see us yesterday came back this morning, I don't know what for but she told me I was going home.”

“Slow down there little man,” Bea giggled at him as she let go of Allies hand bending down to pick him up.

“That's fantastic news, are you excited?”

“Yes, and I'm going to share a room with Ryan and mum and dad, they said I could call them that, are taking us both shopping to buy new clothes and toys as soon as we can go home and….”

“Luke you need to breath.” Ryan laughed.

Bea walked over to the bed gently putting Luke down leaving Allie still standing by the door not sure that she should be there. Bea sat down in a chair and beckoned Allie over to sit in the other chair. She felt a little nervous but went and sat next to her. Ryan and Luke watched her as she sat down,

“This is Allie, I thought you wouldn't mind if she came to see you both.”

Luke looked at her for a few moments before he climbed off the bed and stood in front of her, he looked at her a little shyly before looking at Bea, seeing her smiling at him and climbed into Allies lap and cuddled up to her, Allie wrapped her arms round him as he snuggled in closer,

“You're cuddles are as good as Beas, I think I like you,” Luke said quietly.

“I don't know about that, I'm sure Bea gives way better cuddles than I do,” Allie said softly.

They sat and chatted with Ryan and Luke for an hour before Luke yawned, getting off Allies lap he climbed back on the bed and lay down next to Ryan.

“Looks like we've tired him out, I don't know if I'll be able to see you tomorrow before we leave, I'll try and make some time if I can but if I don't I'll give you my number to give to your mum and dad just in case they or either of you need anything.”

Bea pulled one of her business cards out of her jacket pocket and handed it to Ryan, he looked at it noticing that it had her email address on it.

“If my mum and dad say it's ok maybe we could email you and let you know how everything is when we get home, I'm a little scared about going back to school and Luke's never even been to school, Jess tried to teach us herself but she wasn't very good at it.”

“If it's alright with your mum and dad it's fine with me, I'm sure Franky would like to know that your both doing ok as well.”

They said goodnight to the boys, Luke was half asleep when they were leaving and he just mumbled a good night before he snuggled up to Ryan and fell asleep. Leaving their room Bea took Allie by the hand and led her back out of the hospital to the car, once they were both seated in the car Bea turned to Allie taking her hand in hers and giving it a squeeze.

“Now do you see why I had to leave you at home? Would you have wanted me to leave them in the hands of Jess Warner? They were important, an idiot like Erica Davidson doesn't mean anything to me, she'll never mean anything to me, I will never look at anyone the way I look at you, I will never feel the way I feel about you with anyone else, I didn't notice what she was doing because she's not important, the only person here who is important to me is you.”

“I get, really I do, and I'm sorry I let her get to me the way she did, I let my head read more into it than I should have, I shouldn't have doubted you.”

“Forget about it, now shall we go and get something to eat and then go back to the hotel and go to bed? We have got to meet Debbie for breakfast in the morning for breakfast at Gloria's cafe, you'll love it there, let's say her portion sizes are rather large.”

Allie just giggled before she said she could murder a burger and fries, the hotel food was delicious but she wanted more alone time with Bea and if they went back to the hotel right then no doubt Franky and Bridget would still be in the restaurant. Being with alone with Bea was like being safe indoors when a gale raged outside, in her presence everything for Allie became more calm and that was what she wanted, to feel calm forget about Erica and enjoy their time together, tomorrow was another day and anything could happen, but right then it was their time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoping to stay more focused for the rest of the week now and get another chapter finished.


	105. Chapter 105

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so late posting this chapter due to the worst migraine I've had in a long time.

Opening the door Bea came face to face with Franky who was just about to knock on the door,

“Coming down for breakfast, Gidge has already gone down.”

Bea shook her head letting Franky know that they were meeting Debbie at the cafe handing her the car keys in case they wanted to go anywhere, Franky nodded and walked off. They were in no rush so had agreed to walk over to the cafe, Allie was curious as to just why Debbie loved this cafe so much and even though Bea had tried to explain what it was like she still didn't get what all the fuss was about. As they walked through the almost deserted streets a cool breeze tousled Allies hair, the warmth that had been in the breeze the day before seemed to have evaporated into the sky or leached into the earth as Allie shivered a little. Bea put her arm round Allies waist as they walked along the pavement at a sedate pace, her mind more focused on the their gentle footsteps that seemed to echo throughout the desolate street as they approached the cafe than their surroundings. Stopping outside the door Allie looked at her before turning her head when she heard a car pulling up behind them, seeing Franky grinning at her.

“We decided to join ya, don't mind do ya?”

“Well you're here now aren't ya, not much point in minding is there?” Allie threw back.

“Good, I'll park up and meet ya inside then, gotta try this full English that Debbie's told me about,” Franky chuckled as she drove off again.

Debbie was already waiting for them to arrive chatting to Gloria as she always was with her breakfast already in front of her,

“What time do you two call this?” Debbie asked.

“Deb you said eight, it's still only five to.”

“Huh?” Looking at her watch she laughed, “oh yer, I always forget that I have my watch ten minutes fast so I get to lectures early, sorry.”

“Franky and Bridget are on their way, I thought they were staying at the hotel for breakfast but seems they followed us over here.”

Sitting with Debbie Franky burst in a few seconds later, saying good morning to Gloria she introduced her to Bridget before they sat at the table next to the three of them. Gloria had as always gone to get coffee and returned a little later,

“And what can I get you all this morning?”

Franky and Allie instantly said they wanted a full English breakfast, especially after seeing Debbie's, Bea wasn't all that hungry and said she was ok just with coffee earning her a look from Allie that instantly changed her mind asking for an omelette and Bridget asking for the same. They sat and chatted amongst themselves Franky wanting to know where Bea and Allie had disappeared to the previous evening, after first telling her about the call she'd had from David she went on to tell her about Luke's good news.

“Told ya it would all work out right in the end didn't I?”

“It could have gone bad though, we both know that, you know better than anyone Franky what it can be like, getting moved from one foster home to another.”

“Yer….but it's all good Red, I reckon he ain't gonna get moved about, think he's got himself a proper family there, kid deserves it after everything. Ya heard from Paul or Davis?”

“Not a word, nothing for us to do now though, I'm sure they'll let us know what happens though, if not we can always call and ask, got to admit I want to know what Warner gets.”

Once they all had their food they ate and chatted, naturally as Debbie already had her breakfast before anyone got there she had already finished and was happy to tell Franky that there was no way she was going to eat everything on her plate, Franky had taken that as a challenge and proceeded to shovel food into her mouth as fast as she could, Bridget and Bea had both told her that she needed to slow down but Franky wasn't listening, Allie couldn't eat for laughing when Franky threw her hands up in defeat before pushing her plate as far away as she could,

“I win,” Debbie laughed as she leaned over, “can I?”

Franky groaned and nodded as Debbie picked up her plate and finished what Franky couldn't.

“I'm sure that kid of yours has a bottomless pit for a stomach Red.”

“Franky you knew this already, you also know that you should never try to out eat her, I only know one person who can eat as much and that's Allie.”

“Yer well, I don't know how either of them do it, look at the pair of them, skinny as a rail both of em.”

“Your just jealous Franky, you'd have to start going to the gym if you tried to keep up with me and Debbie.”

Franky groaned again as the door opened and Paul walked in,

“Well, well, fancy finding you all here. I hear you already head the good news Bea.”

“Yer, I took Allie with me to see them yesterday.”

“So I hear, someone made quite an impression on young Luke, told me earlier she gives the best cuddles. Ryan asked if you and Franky will go and see them before you leave, their going home later.”

Gloria appeared with a coffee and breakfast for Paul placing it down on the table Franky and Bridget were sitting at. The conversation flowed easily amongst the six of them, every now and again Gloria would join in in between serving the few customers that would periodically walk in. It was almost 11am by the time they all left, Bea was a little sad to have to leave Debbie behind but she knew she would be home again in few weeks for a few days. Once back at the hotel they finished their packing before Franky and Bea headed to the hospital, Allie and Bridget had wanted them to go to lunch with them but since their flight was at 4pm they didn't think they would have enough time to stay for lunch and visit the boys, and they wanted to say goodbye to them. Arriving at the hospital they were pleased to see the boys both excited to be going home, Ryan's mum and dad were pleased to see them both and thanked Bea for passing on her contact details saying that they were more than happy for the boys to stay in touch with her. It was hard to tell which one of the boys were more excited to be leaving the hospital finally, Ryan was telling Franky everything he and Luke were planning to do over the next few days and Luke was talking a mile a minute to Bea, she couldn't help the smile on her face seeing him so happy and excited warmed her heart, she had a hard time trying to believe Franky when she said everything would work out but the proof that it had was right in front of her eyes. There was no use asking Luke to sit down, that would have been like trying to ask a fire not to burn, his eyes were alight, every muscle in his little body needed to move, to jump and dance. He chatted, giggled and joked. Everything was funny to him as soon as one idea left his mouth there were another five or six already queuing up in his mind ready to be set free into the world. When Bea and Franky had to leave Luke finally jumped back onto the bed beside Luke, both boys were a little sad to see them both leave but promised to email them as soon as they were settled back at home.

“You hungry yet Franky?”

“Na, remind me never to try eating as much as Debs again.”

“You never learn do you? The only other person I know who can keep up with her is Allie.”

After checking out of the hotel the four of them headed straight to the airport, returning the rental car before checking in for their flight. Once in the departure lounge Allie got coffee while Bea got something to eat, missing lunch hadn't been the best idea she'd had but she couldn't not see the boys before they left. Paul had promised to keep them updated, he'd thought it fair since they still hadn't found out the identity of whoever had been buried in the garden of Jason Weston's house. They were already on their flight home when the boys finally left the hospital to go home there had been both newspaper and television reporters waiting for them, Paul and Davis had gone to the hospital to make sure they made it home safely and for the next few weeks there would be officers outside their house, Paul was sure that the Holts were involved up to their necks with Jess Warner and needed to make sure that the boys were safe.

Once they arrived back in Melbourne both couples went their separate ways and headed home.

“I'm starving.” Allie complained.

“Why does that not surprise me?” Bea laughed.

Once home they dropped their bags and Bea slumped on the sofa.

“It's so good to be home, remind me never to travel for work again.”

Allie sat down beside her, resting her head on Beas shoulder.

“If the same thing were to ever happen again, and I hope it never does, I doubt I could stop you from doing the same thing again, and I wouldn't even try to stop you. I missed you I'm not going to deny that because it's impossible to deny it but it's what you do and no one could ever stop you from doing what you do.”

“Hmmm, I know, but it's so tiring, and I need to convince Franky to take some time off. I think her and Bridget could use a holiday.”

“I think you might be right….now am I ordering pizza or do you want to go out and eat?”

“Pizza sounds good to me, I'm too tired to leave the sofa.”

Once the pizza had been delivered they sat on the sofa eating as Allie flicked through the tv channels, stopping at a news channel. Bea rarely watched the news, she couldn't remember watching it in the last six months. Watching it again seemed bizarre, she didn't see the point in watching it, Allie would and just like everyone else never seemed to question it. It was always so full of trauma cleverly disguised as drama. Everyday people were bombarded with things that could so easily traumatise whoever was watching, dead children, murder, rapists, war, the list was endless, nothing was ever discussed in great depth or in a thoughtful manner, the way in which she thought it should be so that the viewer could properly digest the tragic events, no, they would tell you the worst things before moving onto something trivial and funny. To Bea it was a truly bizarre way to behave, no one you knew would come over to tell you that a friend had just lost their son or daughter to cancer or a road traffic accident and then follow that news up asking you if you had heard about the one legged parrot that could tap out morse code with its beak. She wasn't paying a great deal of attention to what what was being said until she heard Ryan's name mentioned, she sat up them, seeing both boys being escorted from the hospital to a waiting car and she had to smile, work tired her out but sometimes it was worth it. Bea had been a small part of that particular piece of news, a piece of news that for once actually made her want to listen, finally a piece of news that did have a feel good factor that was now ripping through the whole of Australia like a gambling junkie on a high steaks bender.

———————————————

Being ripped from her sleep by the alarm the next morning Bea groaned, hearing Allie giggle at her.

“It's not funny, how is it already Monday morning?”

“And you've got to try and convince Franky to take some time off.”

“Oh god…..have you ever tried to convince Franky of anything? She'll argue and make a fuss, maybe I should call Bridget before I tackle that particular issue with her.”

“Maybe Liz could talk some sense into her?”

“You know what, I think you might have a point there, she always listens to Liz, we all do, no matter what's going on she's always the voice of reason.”

Over breakfast Bea remembered Bridget saying that she would be at work at 7am that morning and it was only just after 7, Bea decided that her breakfast could wait for a few minutes and called Bridget, Bea rarely ever called her so she jumped to the conclusion before answering that something must be wrong, she was relieved when Bea had said that she wanted to convince Franky to have at least a week off. Bridget told her that she'd been trying to persuade Franky to take the following week off, Bridget said if Bea could convince her that it would be no problem for her to get that week off as she'd already asked and been told that it would be fine, convincing Franky to leave Bea alone in the office was proving difficult. They chatted for another five minutes before Bea said she had to go.

“You called Bridget?”

“I did, now I just have to convince Franky to take next week off.”

“Next week?”

“Yes, you don't have any plans that I don't know about do you?”

“No, are you sure you can convince her?”

“I don't have a choice now I've told Bridget to book the week off, and she's going to look for somewhere to go when she's not busy, although I think it might take all this week to convince her it's a good idea and that I can be trusted to work on my own.”

Bea was sitting in her office, Liz was at her desk leafing through a magazine with one hand the other holding a coffee mug when Franky walked in looking tired. Liz looked up when she heard the door open,

“Well don't you look tired, surly last week wasn't that bad, Bea doesn't look half as tired as you.”

“Na, nothin to do with last week Liz, just stuff ya know how it is?”

“Hmmm, well Beas in her office love and she wants to see you, do you want coffee?”

Franky shook her head, dropped her bag in her own office before going to find out what Bea wanted. Plopping herself down in the chair in front of Beas desk she looked across at her with a raised eyebrow. Bea looked at her, telling herself that convincing Franky to have at least a week off was the best thing for everyone, she looked more than just tired she looked exhausted and she wasn't surprised by that at all, Franky had done the majority of the work on Ryan's case and Bea felt guilty about that. Standing up from her chair Bea paced around her office for a couple of minutes, she knew Franky was going to protest and tell her that she didn't need any time off, but Bea knew too well that it wasn't just about Franky, Bridget hadn't had a break in months and the last time she had gone anywhere she had gone alone because Franky had refused to have time off. The only time Franky had never had to try and convince Bea that she needed to take time off was at Christmas when she went to New Zealand, any other time she tried it was a full scale war just to get her to have a single day off, but that was before Allie came along, Allie had changed Bea for the better that had always been obvious. Stopping right behind her chair Bea looked at Franky before she launched into her reasons why Franky needed to take the next week off, Franky sat quietly until Bea said that she didn't really have an option because Bridget had booked the next week off and was looking for a last minute destination for them. As Bea sat down Franky sat bolt upright in her chair, running a hand through her hair twice in quick succession as she fixed Bea in a stare that could have frozen the entire Pacific Ocean.

Bea knew that stare too well and braced herself mentally for the full onslaught she knew Franky was going to throw at her. Franky could and would squabble with her over anything, she hadn't bought the right coffee, she hadn't put the file away she needed, she'd parked in her usual spot. Bea would normally take it as meekly as a kitten subjected to the rough tongue of its mother, but not today! As Franky started telling her not so politely that she didn't need a break, that it was nothing to do with Bea and that she had no business sticking her nose in and calling Bridget, Bea didn't care if this time the whole neighbourhood heard them arguing, the kitten was far out of town and only the sleeping tiger had been left behind. Their voices were raised at a level that neither of them had heard before, arguing back and forth as to why both Franky and Bridget needed a break. Bea was just about to explode when Liz walked in her usual knowing smile on her face,

“Whatever is going on in here?”

She cast her eyes between Bea and Franky, Franky stood with her fists clenched and Bea almost in the corner of the room, her face beet red and her hands on her hips if steam could have come from her ears Liz knew that it would. Liz didn't need telling that Bea was trying to persuade Franky to take some time off, she had run into Bridget the week before and over coffee she'd let slip that she wanted to convince Franky that they needed a holiday, Liz could always read the situation faster than anyone either of them knew.

“You can cut the atmosphere in here with a knife.”

The second that cliche left Liz's mouth Franky rolled her eyes, in truth you couldn't have cut it with a knife the atmosphere was like a brick. Looking between them both once again Liz took a deep breath,

“Sit down the pair of of you.” Liz said in the most commanding tone that either of them had ever heard before.

Liz was always honest, always sincere, she always meant what she said and sometimes that scared her a little. She lived her life most of the time with her emotions turned up as high as was humanly possible, she often thought that she just hadn't been blessed with the fine tuning that everyone else had. On the plus side though in situations that sometimes arose between Bea and Franky it made things fun, and they both knew her well enough to know that was the truth. They both did as they were told, Franky flopping back down into her seat as Bea walked back across her office to take her seat. Liz stood to the side of the desk staring first at Franky then at Bea, her honest eyes boring into them as if she were trying to convince them both that what she was about to say was the truth. Franky however for some reason was finding anything hard to believe even though she knew that Liz was always honest and so was Bea, she started wondering why she found the whole situation hard to believe. She looked at Bea with her head slightly bowed seeing the anger gone from her eyes, her heart told her that Bea was only looking out for her, trying to do what was in her best interests both for her health and her relationship with Bridget, she herself had had to convince Bea having a vacation was the best thing for her and Allie the first time they had gone away together, her mind was now telling her that she should give her another chance to say what she needed to say.

“Finally….thats much better, why do I always have to be peacemaker between you two? You're acting like a pair of spoiled kids, I think I know what this is all about and Franky I have to say that you need a break.”

Franky opened her mouth to speak but before she uttered a single word Liz cut her off.

“Before you go blaming Bea for saying anything to me it wasn't Bea that said anything it was Bridget, we had coffee together last week and she told me she was getting really frustrated with you, are you trying to screw things up Franky? You both need a break, look at Bea, she might not have been completely on bored when Allie arranged their first break together but we both know it did her the world of good and that's exactly what you need, sometime away from everything with Bridget, just the two of you. You've worked on some pretty rough cases together and a break will do you good.”

Franky hung her head, she couldn't really argue with her, she was exhausted, more mentally than physically but exhausted all the same. Silence fell around them and Franky for a few minutes had to sit and drink in the silence to counteract the fear that was threatening to engulf her, she hated to take a break, working kept her feeling stable, like she was in control and going somewhere that wasn't work related scared her, made her feel as if she wouldn't be in control of everything that would happen, but she had to think of Bridget and not just about herself. The kind of thick silence that sat in Beas office would normally chill her, especially after she had just argued with Bea the way she had, but right then it worked like a slave for her and she felt it, it was absolute and had a medicinal effect on her, made her thinking more clear. Raising her head she looked at Bea,

“You're right Red, I shouldn't have gone off like that….I’ll take next week off, actually if it's alright with ya I'll finish on Thursday, have Friday off, get a head start on the packing don't want Gidge sayin I'm not pullin my weight.”

Bea smiled and nodded, “Finish when ever you want, finish up today if you like, I'll still have David around.”

“Now that's better, I hope you two haven't forgotten that you have a new client coming in this afternoon, I'll get you the file that David started for you and please no more arguing.”

The rest of the day passed quietly, they took on the new case as it wasn't too difficult and shouldn't take up too much of Beas time. Franky eventually agreed to take a few extra days off and said she would work until Wednesday after she had a long talk with Liz while Bea was busy reading emails in her office. The three of them took off early, Franky wanted to get home and tell Bridget that they had convinced her to take time off, Bea wanted to get to the supermarket and make a start on dinner before Allie got home. Liz was just grateful for a couple of extra hours out of the office, she had a few things to do at home, while they had been in Sydney she'd taken to staying in the office late with David, she had picked up a lot from Bea and Franky in the time she had spent working with them and tried to help him out, he didn't want to disturb either Bea of Franky and Liz had been a great help, not that either of them were going to say anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I already have the next chapter about half written I should be able to get it posted tomorrow.


	106. Chapter 106

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wait what's this another chapter so soon? 
> 
> I will warn you all, and I do recommend that you pay attention, this chapter is NSFW. You have been duly warned.

_Late on Saturday night….._

Bea stayed in the office later than she had intended to, she was pleased that Franky had taken time off, David and Liz were a great help but it wasn't the same without Franky, after sending them both home at six she had called Allie to let her know she still had work to do and would be staying in the office to try and get some of it finished, around 11pm she had called it a night.

She got home, exhausted from a long day in the office, it had been quite a miserable day everything considered, they'd had to deliver some bad news to a client and Bea hated that part of the job.

The house was quiet and dark as she softly closed the door behind her, she shuffled over in the direction of the sofa with an armful of papers, her bag slung across her shoulder was also full of even more paperwork. She dropped everything down onto the coffee table before she flicked on the lamp, turning very ungracefully she allowed herself to fall back onto the sofa with a soft thud, she was so exhausted she could barely even think. She wouldn't admit it but since Thursday without Franky around her week had been hell, she'd already had three stressful days and two sleepless nights. Resting her head in her hands she rubbed her aching temples trying to relieve the headache that she felt beginning, she sat there on the sofa trying to unwind from the last three days and she completely lost all track of time, the last three days had been chaotic, they had taken on four new cases, one she knew she needed Franky's help with and had informed the client that she wouldn't begin to start work on it straight away due to her partner being on vacation, she was slightly relieved when the woman had said she was completely fine with that, after Ryan had been found they had received more phone calls than Liz could handle at times requesting their help. Sitting on the sofa it felt peaceful for the first time in days and she welcomed it.

Bea had drifted off to sleep for a few minutes, when she woke up she found Allie standing behind her leaning on the back of the sofa gently massaging her shoulders. Bea moaned softly, thinking that she had never felt something hurt so much yet feel so good at the same time, her shoulders and back felt so tight but Allies skilled fingers soon loosened up the past three days of built up tension in her muscles. Leaning back on the sofa as Allies hands came to rest once again on her shoulders she leaned her head to the side to rest her cheek against the back of her hand. Allie leaned further over the back of the sofa looking at Bea with concern.

“It's really late, I was starting to worry, I thought you might have fallen asleep in your office,” Allie whispered in her ear. “I missed you.”

“I'm sorry, I've got so much paperwork to do and I haven't got through half of it yet.”

“I can see that, but it's Sunday tomorrow, I hope you're not thinking about working on a Sunday.”

“No, I wouldn't do that, I'm staying home on Monday, there's less distraction here than in the office so I should get through it.”

“That's alright then, I'm not giving up another Sunday, just you and me, and especially not for paperwork.”

Looking at Allie properly she noticed her sleep tousled hair and that she was wearing one of her long sleeved work shirts, she did that when they were apart, even if Bea was at work and Allie at home she would always get changed into something of hers. Bea smiled weakly at her, she felt guilty for working so much that week, she knew she'd been neglecting her, everyday since Franky had been away so far she'd found concentrating difficult because she found herself thinking about Allie more than the task at hand. It was killing her, she hated having to do this and she knew it had to be wearing on Allies patience even though she didn't show it. They stayed looking at each other until Beas eyes started to close against her will, Allie noticed straight away, removing her hands from her shoulders, walking round the sofa she helped her to her feet. Bea couldn't help but notice that Allie was naked under her shirt, Allie shot a little grin at her when she noticed her checking her out like a shy school boy. Bea gave her a slight smile as she pulled her to her feet and into her body, Bea wrapped her arms around her neck as Allie pulled her closer still as she started tugging her shirt from her trousers before sliding her hands up her shirt and across her back. Pressing their foreheads together They looked into each other's eyes in the dim light, Bea could see the playfulness and seriousness behind Allies eyes before Allie kissed her on the lips for the first time since that morning and then it had only been a brief kiss just before Bea had run out of the bedroom in a hurry to get to the office before Allie had even woken up properly.

Allie pulled away slightly before taking Bea by the hand, turning off the lamp and leading her up the stairs and to their bedroom. Sitting Bea down on the edge of the bed Allie told her she would be right back before she disappeared into the en suite. Sitting on the bed Bea looked around the room, it had turned into a mess since Thursday morning, there were clothes strewn all over the floor and Bea realized that they were both so busy with work that neither of them had cared where they were throwing their laundry. Reaching down Bea pulled her boots off and kicked them out of the way before starting to unbutton her shirt just as Allie returned to the bedroom. Allie grabbed Beas hands moving them out of the way and she continued the task herself, slowly pulling her shirt from her shoulders before tossing it on the floor adding to the mess. Allie quickly moved on to unzipping her trousers before Bea lifted herself slightly off the bed as she slid them down her legs allowing them to drop to the floor, Bea stood up and stepped out of them and straight into Allies arms. She stood there in her bra and panties with Allies arms wrapped round her, feeling her hand reach up her back she unclasped her bra, stepping back a little she let it fall down her arms joining the rest of her clothes on the floor. Dropping down to her knees Allie kissed her across her stomach before hooking her thumbs under the waistband of her panties sliding them slowly down her legs, she stood back up, taking Beas hand once more she lead her to the en suite.

Allie helped her into the tub watching her as she sank down into the hot water that instantly relaxed Beas aching body, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Allie sat on the edge of the tub wetting Beas hair, pouring shampoo in her hand before she began gently massaging it into her scalp, Allies hands could always work wonders and Bea felt her headache start to dissipate within a few seconds. Bea had relaxed so much that she was like putty in Allies hands, she rinsed her hair before massaging the conditioner through it. Grabbing Beas favourite soap she worked up a good lather in her hands she leaned Bea forward slightly as she rubbed her hands lightly over her back and shoulders, reaching round her she washed over her chest and lightly over her breasts as she leaned forward planting a light trail of kisses up her neck. Allie changed her position slightly as she pushed her chest into Beas back soaking the shirt she was still wearing as her hands gently rubbed circles over her chest and arms before allowing her hands to slip lower over her stomach. Her hands slid lower still soaking her shirt sleeves, Bea instinctively opened her legs as Allies hand rubbed down one leg before switching to the other. Bea wasn't sure how much she could take, just as she thought Allie was going to stop she felt her hand move between her thighs cautiously and rubbed lightly over her most sensitive spot cleaning her thoroughly. Once Allie was done she rinsed the conditioner out of her hair before pulling out the plug, giving Bea one last kiss on her neck before getting up to get a towel, helping her out of the bath she started to dry Bea, trying not to let herself get carried away by her thoughts but Bea knew exactly what she thinking when she saw her bite her bottom lip as she tried to concentrate on what she was doing. Finding that her bath had rejuvenated her strength Bea took the towel from Allies hands, throwing it on the floor, she walked Allie backwards into the bedroom stopping right by their bed before gently sitting Allie down and slowly unbuttoning the wet shirt that clung to her body, she pulled it off dropping it on the floor before telling her to lie down. As she walked round to the other side of the bed she didn't take her eyes off Allie for a second seeing her breathing heavy as her chest rose and fell.

Laying down on the bed Bea scooted closer to Allie who was laying on her side watching her every move, turning to face her she pulled her in to an an embrace as they were both overrun with passion, Allies mouth soon found Beas and they kissed intently. Breaking the kiss Allie gently flipped Bea back against the bed, the sheets cool and crisp next to her back and Allies soft skin warm against her front, their bodies melded together as Allie stretched out more as she lay on top of her. Allies eyes searched Beas just before her mouth claimed hers again, their hands trying to touching every inch of skin that they could reach as their tongues danced together. Breaking their kiss once more Allie opened her eyes looking into the beautiful brown eyes that she adored as she brushed a loose strand of hair from Beas face.

“I love you Bea.” Allie whispered to her.

“I love you too beautiful.”

“So just how tired are you?”

“I thought I was ready to drop earlier but I feel fine now, I think that's down to you though.”

Bea felt a twinge of guilt creep through her, she hated working really late and leaving Allie by herself especially when she knew that she would have had a tough day also. Allie moved slightly tucking her face into Beas neck she began kissing her as Bea rolled her head to the side. Allie pushed herself off Beas body slowly sliding one of her legs between both of Beas, as soon as her thigh reached its destination she groaned with the desire that was building inside of her. Allie pressed her thigh a little harder against Beas core as she leaned down to kiss her neck again, Bea gasped moving her hands to her hips trying to push her back a little, Allie realized that she was already close as she moved to lay beside her, propping herself up on her elbow she ran her hand up her arm, across her chest and lightly over her breasts, taking her time she caressed each one before she moved again lowering her mouth to kiss her breasts, Beas eyes were firmly locked on Allie as she let out a breath that she didn't even realize she had been unintentionally holding. The combination of the tiredness that once again washed over her and wanting Allie to touch her so bad was making her delirious. Bea couldn't stand it any longer as she grabbed Allies hand and guided it down between her legs, Allie sighed as soon as her fingers touched her and she realized what she was doing to her.

“God Bea is that what I do to you?”

“Hmmmm, you know it is.”

Allie rested her thigh on top of Beas as her fingers easily slid through her folds. Allie quickly readjusted her position so that she was straddling Bea, one hand planted firmly on the mattress beside her shoulder to steady herself, two fingers of her other hand buried inside of her. Bea gasped and clenched her jaw, it felt so good as Allie pumped in and out of her slowly but intently. Allie was staring into her eyes but Bea felt as if she couldn't keep hers open, giving up the fight she closed them allowing her head to sink further into the pillow. Feeling Allie gently kiss the corner of her mouth before moving to her neck she let out a groan as she felt her move her thumb to her her throbbing clit, the second she did that Bea felt her orgasm start to build much quicker and gentle moans left her mouth uncontrollably. Allie picked up her pace and that was more than Bea could take as her loud moans filled the room. She wanted to look at her but her eyelids were too heavy to open, hearing Allie whispering in her ear she almost lost it, both her hands clenched the sheets as she moaned Allies name like a crazy person as her orgasm hit her feeling like waves of warm water as they wash over her for what felt like forever. As she slowly came back down from her high Bea could feel Allies hands on her, she could feel her pressed into her side and the sheets under her feeling Allie move slightly again she felt her kissing her neck up to her ear.

“Have I told you recently just how much I love you?”

Allies words sent a jolt of electricity through her body as Allie moved her hand to her jaw pulling her face gently to hers so she could kiss her on the lips. Bea opened her eyes slowly as Allie pulled away looking back at her, she smiled and whispered,

“Get some sleep babe you're exhausted, I shouldn't have kept you awake all this time.”

For the first time in ages Bea began to realize just how exhausted she was, she thought about arguing with her about her not letting her reciprocate but she knew there was no point, she knew Allie would just tell her not to think about it and to go to sleep. Finally making it under the covers Bea took hold of Allies hand she draped it across her chest as she turned over, feeling Allie kiss her on her shoulder before snuggling up to her, whispering their I love you’s before they both fell asleep.

Waking up the next morning Bea felt Allie still laying in the same position she had fallen asleep in, turning onto her back she sleepily rubbed her eyes before wriggling out of Allies embrace and went to the bathroom. She decided to have a shower later after Allie was awake her stomach growling reminded her that she hadn't eaten since lunch time the previous day, returning to the bedroom she pulled clean underwear out of a draw sliding into them before looking for something to wear, it was after all Sunday and she had no intention of doing anything more than shopping and laundry. Pulling out an old pair of sweat pants and a t shirt she pulled them on before pulling her hair up into a pony tail. She had promised to check on Franky and Bridget's house while they were away and after looking at the time she guessed Allie wouldn't be awake for at least an hour. Grabbing her iPod from the bedside table she looked for her running shoes, finding one sticking out from under the bed she had no idea where the other one was, picking up the dirty clothes that were on the floor she piled them up in the corner of the room quickly finding the other running shoe under a pair of her jeans. Sitting at the end of the bed she pulled them on before making her way down to the kitchen to check the contents of the fridge, finding they still had all they needed for breakfast at least she made the coffee, drinking half a cup before she wondered into the living room to retrieve her keys before she headed out of the door. Franky didn't live that far away so she decided to walk over, it was a pretty nice morning and she really needed the exercise, sitting behind a desk all day wasn't her thing even when Franky wasn't away. After untangling her headphones she decided on the music she wanted to listen to, she smiled to herself as she looked back at the house before she took off in the direction of Franky's. Bea loved walking around their neighbourhood it was always so quiet and peaceful especially on Sunday mornings. A little while later she arrived outside Franky's noticing straight away that an upstairs window had been left open, reaching in her pocket for the key as she walked up the drive arriving at the front door she unlocked it. After entering she checked that everything was as it should be before going upstairs to close the window. Ten minutes later she was headed home, she felt really happy, if Franky could see her that happy so early on a Sunday morning she was in no doubt that she would want to smack her in the face. She hadn't seen one single car on the way over or on her way back home, it was just her alone with the music in her ears and the thoughts in her head.

Once she got back to their house she eased the door open, closing it silently behind herself before pulling off her running shoes, leaving her iPod on what little space there was left on the coffee table she made her way back upstairs to their bedroom hearing the shower running, she was a little shocked that Allie was awake already, smiling deviously to herself she stripped off her clothes outside the en suit door. Easing the door open she slipped silently in, steam filled the room as she opened the shower door quietly seeing Allies long frame standing there hot steaming water cascading over her body. Allie hadn't heard her as she stepped in behind her, she wrapped her arms around her waist as she pressed herself into her back making Allie jump slightly before she turned in her arms and grinned at her.

“Did I scare you?”

“Yer, just a little, where did you go?”

  
“Just over to Franky's to check everything was ok.”

“I'm guessing it was.”

“Yes, except the idiot had left an upstairs window open.”

Bea ran her hand through Allies wet hair and smiled at her.

“Did you sleep ok?”

Allie smiled back before kissing her.

“I slept amazingly well, considering I've only had about six hours sleep I feel great, how about you?”

“Hmmmm, well I guess it was ok.” Bea teased her.

“Only ok?”

Allie tilted her head to one side as she turned them around so that the hot water was streaming down Beas shoulders and back.

“Just Ok was it?”

“Yer, it was ok,” Bea nodded.

Allie took a step forward forcing Bea further under the constant stream of water.

“I'll remember that for next time,” she winked at her.

Allie pressed the full length of her body against Beas forcing her back against the tiled wall, the water ran over their bodies as Bea ran her hands over Allies body, her thighs, her hips, her stomach then up to her breasts. She slid her hands over her chest and up her neck to cup her face before kissing her hard on the mouth. Allie had her hands on her shoulders trying to support herself as her legs began to get shaky. Bea ran one hand down between their stomachs and down between Allies thighs, gently rubbing two fingers over her clit she couldn't help but instantly notice how swollen it was and she knew just how bad it must ache so she gently massaged her there until she felt Allie lay her forehead against her shoulder and lean further into her for support, she rubbed a little harder and a little faster as Allie moaned into her ear. Sliding her fingers further down she slipped them inside her, Allie groaned at the sudden intrusion and tilted her hips further in towards Bea. Picking up the pace of her movements Allie couldn't help but match her rhythm, her arms fell from her shoulders finally resting on her hips as she tried to hold on to Bea as tight as she could. Bea turned them around leaning Allie back against the the wall as she kissed down her neck, down her chest stopping at her breasts, sucking one of her nipples into her mouth she could feel her heart beating, Allie leaned her head back against the wall and moaned loudly. Bea removed her fingers moving both her hands to Allies hips as she kissed further down over her stomach, dropping to her knees she once again ran her fingers over her clit feeling her jump slightly, running her fingers lower she slid back inside her, the groan that left her was guttural. The sound alone got Bea hotter in the couple of seconds that it lasted for than she could have ever imagined and an unintentional moan escaped her without her even realizing it. Allie opened her eyes and looked down at her right into her eyes, the look on her face making Bea know that she knew exactly what she was thinking about. Bea held her gaze as she ran her mouth over her running her tongue straight to her clit as she watched her eyes flutter closed again as she leaned her head back once again to rest on the shower wall. Allie had her hands on the back of her head, her fingers in her hair, Bea grabbed her hip with her free hand as she drew her clit into her mouth sucking hard, feeling Allie rock her hips, it was more than Allie could take as she felt her muscles tighten around her fingers as she moaned her name over and over, adding a third finger Allie lost it as she flew over the edge. Her voice was strained and she could feel her legs quivering uncontrollably as she tried to keep hold of her as the last waves of her orgasm washed her. Standing up Bea pressed her body tight against Allies to steady her, watching her slowly open her eyes as her breathing returned to normal. Bea felt herself get lost in her big blue eyes as they stood looking at each other holding on tightly as if they were afraid that one of them might disappear at any second. Realizing just how long they had been in the shower Allie reached around and turned it off. Without a single word Allie cupped Beas face in her hands as she slowly brought her mouth closer to hers, Bea couldn't take her eyes off her as she watched her mouth inch closer to her own as if it were the first time they had ever kissed.

“I love you so fucking much.” Allie said quietly smiling her ever so charming smile before brushing her thumb across her soft lips.

“I love you too, so much more than I ever dreamed possible.”

Opening the shower door they both stepped out, Allie reaching for a towel, the entire room was covered in condensation, the mirror completely steamed over, Bea laughed a little as she tried to point out the fact that they had spent way too long in the shower. Allie smiled with a devious little smile and they kissed all the way back to the bed, Bea was wishing that she'd lay her down and make love to her for the rest of the day but she knew they had so much to do so she settled for just letting Allie dry her off, kissing her as she went, trying to stifle a giggle as her lips kissed her waist. Once Allie had finished drying her off she allowed Bea to do the same for her. Bea kissed her one last time before going to the wardrobe, pulling out an old well worn pair of jeans and a t shirt. After finally getting dressed Bea pulled her hair back up into a pony tail before leaving the bedroom looking for Allie who had left the bedroom after getting dressed a couple of minutes before her. Reaching the living room she found Allie sitting on the sofa.

“What took you so long?”

“Nothing much,” Bea replied as she sat down beside her.

“You look like you could fall back to sleep.”

“If we didn't have to go shopping and do all that damn laundry maybe I'd just go back to bed.”

“And we need to tidy this place up a little, someone left a mess on the coffee table last night when she got home,” Allie said gesturing to the pile of paperwork Bea had dropped there.

“Leave it there, I'll deal with it tomorrow.”

Bea stretched out lazily wishing that they didn't have to leave the house for the rest of the day.

“Now you look really sleepy,” Allie giggled.

“Hmmmmm, well you know, someone did keep me up way past my bedtime last night.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I ever tell you all how much I hate Wednesdays? Well I do, it just means that I have other things to do that stop me from writing, but I will make at least a little time to write.


	107. Chapter 107

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erica shows up unannounced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stupid o'clock strikes again, although I could have actually finished this chapter yesterday if I'd have had a little more motivation to actually carry on writing.

Monday passed without a great deal of fuss, Bea Finlay got caught up with all the paperwork, most of which she had been putting off for weeks, Liz had called a couple of times just to let her know that she had scheduled a couple of appointments for her later in the week and David had called around lunch time letting her know he would be in the office due to his afternoon class being cancelled because the lecturer had called in sick. She'd asked him to look at a couple of things for her which he was more than happy to do. Allie got home earlier than expected as she had been with Will the whole day again learning about the running of the restaurant, after a pretty full on lesson about the ordering system Will had called it a day and told her to go home early, she had protested saying that she would go back to the bar for the hour that remained of her shift but he wouldn't hear any of it. When she walked into the house she had been slightly surprised to find Bea in the kitchen making a start on dinner, the mass of paperwork she had left dumped on the coffee table was now neatly stacked on the kitchen table. They had spent most of the remainder of the day after dinner doing nothing at all which had suited them both.

Tuesday had been busy and Bea had been glad that David had been in the office all morning, he'd taken care of the few things that Bea hadn't got time to do.

Wednesday was going to be a challenge, Bea had to spend the whole morning out of the office, sitting in the SUV all morning slumped in her seat had done nothing to lighten her mood and she found herself selfishly wishing that she hadn't tried so hard to get Franky to have a break. Her thoughts drifted back to Allie for around the hundredth time that day already until her eyes were drawn back to the person she was meant to be watching, “well fuck, this is going to be another bad news case,” she thought to herself. She had to admit she really needed Franky right now, surveillance was fine, something she'd never really minded doing but she couldn't spend the whole day on one job, at least when Franky was around they could take it in turns. David wasn't qualified so he could really only do office based work, his research skills were second to none, he and Franky were most certainly on a par when it came to research.

Bea only just made it back to the office in time for her appointment, it would be a straight forward case and definitely something she could get David to cover, something she was happy about. Franky wouldn't be back at work until Tuesday and she already had more work than she could handle on her own. Showing the new client out she flopped into one of the chairs and spent a few minutes talking to Liz.

“You should get yourself off home love, I can lock up.”

“I've got too much work to do Liz, I can't just run off home.”

“You can and you will, you listen to me you're no good to anyone if you're exhausted. I know Franky needed a break, it's a shame you couldn't talk her into it sooner.”

“We both know what's she's like, but I think you're giving me too much credit for convincing her, you did most of the talking, all I did was argue with her.”

“Well, no matter who convinced her, you know as well as I do what trouble you'll be in when she gets back and you're not on top form.”

“Yer, ok you win, I'll go home early today, it'll give me a chance to tidy up a little before Allie gets home, if you'd have seen the state of our bedroom last Saturday you'd have been shocked.”

“Get yourself off love, I've only got some files to put away, I'll see you tomorrow morning.”

Bea gathered up her bag and phone and headed home surprised to find Allie already home and busy in the kitchen. She hadn't heard Bea walk into the kitchen but knew she was there.

“You're good at sneaking into the house, but if you don't want me to know you're here you really shouldn't stand there staring.”

“If I could keep my eyes off you then I wouldn't be staring would I? How come you're in already?”

“Will thinks I'm ready to cover him in the restaurant, and I'm not looking forward to that because it means I'll have to work later, he wants me to run it on my own for one day next week while he stays in the bar…I'm not sure I can do it though, I'm fine in the bar but what if I screw it up?”

Bea crossed the kitchen and wrapped her arms around her,

“You'll be just fine, Will wouldn't say you were ready to do it if he didn't believe you were, and I know you can do it, you can do anything that you put your mind to and you know that.”

“You have that much faith in me?”

“Yes I do, and so does Will, trust me sweetheart you can do it…..now what are you cooking and what do you need me to do?”

“Nothing, I've got it, you haven't brought work home have ya?”

“I wouldn't have dared to even try, Liz practically threw me out of the office.”

“Good for her, go and have a shower or something, just relax I'll call you when it's ready.”

Bea knew better than to argue, arguing with Allie was always a waste of time, no matter what Bea said Allie would always find another reason to prove she was right, and arguing was a waste of effort, it was better to just let Allie finish dinner by herself and find something else to waste her time on, like the shower she decided actually was a better idea than she had when Allie first suggested it, spending all morning in the SUV had left her muscles aching and she guessed a shower would help with that. After her shower she went back to the kitchen, Allie was about to tell her that she still didn't need any help, Bea just went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water and went to sit out in the garden. In the distance she could hear the low hum of the traffic, it was far enough away for the sound not to bother her though. Usually she would have her phone right there with her but she had chosen to leave it behind in the house, nothing could be overly important at just gone 4pm, if it was they would call back. Franky had always told her that sometimes it was good to not be available all the time, not everything required immediate attention, or as Franky had said, the only person she should pay immediate attention to was Allie or end up in the dog house. She shook her head when she thought about that and closed her eyes drawing in the fresh air as she let the sounds of the birds fill her ears instead of the usual ticking clock, ten minutes outside had relaxed her more than she could have imagined and she wished she could spend the rest of the week just sitting out there instead of going to work. In her quiet contemplation she thought about a lot of things, about Allie and how everything had changed since they had met, the circumstances didn't matter to her, they hadn't mattered to any of the people she cared about and cherished in her life, all that mattered was that she was happy, the fact that they all liked Allie and had helped and supported her right from the first day she had brought her home with her was all she could have ever asked for.

Hearing Allie singing along with the radio made her smile and she went back inside, sitting on the sofa she sat comfortably listening to her with a smile on her face, she remembered that she had missed lunch again, she had been in a hurry to get back to the office and hadn't had time to get anything, as the afternoon had worn on she'd completely forgotten about missing lunch. Tapping her feet on the floor lightly she sat back and listened to the sounds coming from the kitchen, the smells however were just reminding her how hungry she was. She closed her eyes again and let the music flood over her like an early summer breeze. Even though not all of the songs she could hear were upbeat it didn't matter, the sound of Allie singing along soothed her all the same, all her thoughts of the office and the different cases she had to keep working on were forgotten as she brought her knees up to her chest wrapping her arms around them as the smell of dinner wafted through from the kitchen.

Thursday morning arrived and again Bea rushed out of the house before Allie was even fully awake, her morning would be the same as the day before, a few boring hours spent sitting in the SUV, she'd probably skip lunch again because she had another meeting in the afternoon but at least David would be around for a few hours while she was out of the office, he knew what she needed him to take care of for her, just knowing she wasn't going to have to spend hours in front of her computer was a real weight off her shoulders. When she finally arrived back at the office the client who was there for a meeting was sitting happily chatting with Liz.

“I'm really sorry I'm late, traffic was a nightmare.”

“It's really not a problem, Liz has kept me company.”

“It's all part of the job love, it's a little hectic around here right now.”

Two hours later Bea had all the information that she needed, she had assured the client that she would get on with the required work within the next few days as she was very busy. After showing them out she returned to her office with a coffee, she sat slumped at her desk eying the stack of paperwork that was once again accumulating on her desk, it was starting to look more like Franky's office by the day, Franky had the habit of letting her paperwork pile up on her desk then she'd spend a full day just ploughing through it all, often taking it home with her when Bridget was working late, she really didn't want to take it home again, it wasn't fair on Allie if she would be spending all evening working on it and judging by the pile she was looking at half the night as well. She was pissed off with herself for allowing it to pile up again, on closer inspection she was able to sort it into two piles, one for her and one for David to tackle, relieved that her pile was much smaller than she had thought it would be. Liz entered her office with a coffee and a doughnut.

“You missed lunch again didn't you?”

“Jesus Liz am I that easy to read?”

“You were late back love, it doesn't take much to figure out that you haven't eaten.”

“Fair enough, you got me, I wasn't paying attention to the time, then I ran out of time because of the bloody traffic, who knew the people that we sometimes have to watch will end up miles out of the way?”

“Well I won't tell Allie love, she'd be annoyed if she knew you weren't taking care of yourself though.”

Bea just smiled at her because she knew it was true, if she'd had the time before she left the house and she'd have actually thought about it she'd have made herself a sandwich and taken it with her, she'd barely had the time to drink a coffee, the slice of toast she made herself had been eaten in the car on her drive over to the office. Looking back at the stack of paperwork she ate the doughnut, munching on it with all the excitement of a child at the dentist.

An hour later Liz tapped on her office door, opening it slowly,

“Bea love I didn't think you were expecting anyone else today but there's a woman here who says you know her.”

Bea was puzzled she wasn't expecting anyone and gestured for Liz to close the door.

“I'm not expecting anyone, did you get her name?”

“Yes love it's Erica Davidson, she said you worked together in Sydney.”

“I met her once at he hotel, I guess you better send her in.”

Liz walked back out of the office a few moments later Erica walked in closing the door behind her as Bea just sat and watched her cross the room and sit in a chair in front of her desk. She had no idea why she was is Melbourne and much less why she was now sitting in her office right in front of her. They sat in silence for the next few moments, Bea had nothing to say to her, she wasn't a fan of anyone who claimed they were going to do something and then clearly didn't. Erica sat forward a little in her chair, clearing her throat before she began to speak. Bea listened as she told her that Greg had now closed their office and even though she knew it was clearly a little out of the ordinary and not something she would generally do she was wondering if they needed anyone to work with them.

“Since Franky is on vacation at the moment that's not something I'm able to actually discuss, we own this business together, we built it up from nothing, how long are you planning on staying in Melbourne?”

“Ahh….well I don't know how long I can actually afford to stay, Greg still owes me money, probably can't stay for more than a few days.”

Bea sat and thought, she knew Allie didn't like her at all, she needed some extra help for a few days, she could keep her at arms length that wasn't a problem, she could do the surveillance job if she was agreeable. And they had a spare room, she'd just have to make sure she wasn't alone with her, how could Allie be angry about that? She really couldn't see what had concerned Allie so much, the only person she wanted was Allie, and looking at Erica there was no way she was in anyway interested in Bea. She had to decide what to do, weighing up the pros and cons of having her around for a few days she decided that it was worth it.

“I could use some help until Franky gets back, would you be willing to do some surveillance work, I know it's not the most exciting or glamorous job.”

“I'd be happy to do that, I have all my ID and everything with me, force of habit always having it with me I guess.”

“I can help you out if you need a place to stay, it's nothing spectacular but we have a spare room and it'll save you money. Plus. It's the least I can do if you're happy to do surveillance, not my favourite job in the world.”

For the next 45 minutes Bea brought her up to speed never once noticing that when she had moved her chair round to sit next to Bea that she kept inching it closer to her. Erica couldn't understand why she didn't notice, this wasn't how this was meant to go, she hadn't been told that Bea was this oblivious to anyone's attention except Allies. She figured that once they got back to their house she would have to try a little harder, if the blond didn't like it all the better, she wasn't here to make friends, she'd been given her orders and she knew what was at steak if she didn't do what she had been told.

Liz knocked on the door just before 6pm,

“Bea love, won't Allie be home now? I think you better get yourself home.”

  
Looking up at the clock on the wall she jumped out of her chair, grabbed her bag and her phone and told Erica that they needed to go.

“I'll lock up love, I'll see you in the morning.”

“Thanks Liz, shit, I can't keep working late, I might just not be in too much trouble thanks to you.”

  
Arriving home they walked in hearing Allie in the kitchen, Bea told Erica to make herself at home as she went to the kitchen. Allie heard her walk into the kitchen and spun round a huge smile on her face.

“There you are, I was beginning to think that you'd forgotten where you lived.”

Crossing the kitchen Bea wrapped her arms around her pulling her in for a kiss.

“Not a chance of that happening, ever….I have to tell you something though and try not to be too angry with me, I need the help and when Erica turned up….”

Allie pulled away from her,

“You're telling me that she's working for you? Bea I don't like her one bit, I told you I don't like the way she looked at you.”

“I know but you know I'm not interested in her, she could walk around the house naked and I wouldn't notice.”

“What, wait….are you telling me she's here, in the house? I don't like it, you already knew what I was going to say though, I suppose I'll have to live with it, but if she does anything I don't like I'm not going to stay quiet, you know that right?”

“I know, and I know it's not ideal, but babe I'm not interested in anyone but you, I never will be, and anyway you can just follow me round the house if you want to can't you?”

“Don't worry I will, and I'll be keeping an eye on her, is she going to be in the office all the time with you?”

“Allie, do you trust me?”

“You know I do, it's her I don't trust.”

“She's going to be doing surveillance for me, you know how much I hate that job when I have so much else that needs taking care of, she'll be out all day, it'll just be me and Liz, David will be in when he can, actually I think he's in all day on Saturday.”

“Good, now I guess I have to feed her.”

  
Dinner was awkward, Allie kept her eye on Erica the whole time and sat closer to Bea than she usually did. She didn't like this at all and part of her was mad at Bea for not calling her and letting her know, she was relieved that she wasn't going to be in the office with her but it didn't stop her from worrying, she didn't like her, there was something about her that she couldn't quite put her finger on it, she was up to something she knew that, she'd spent enough time out on the streets to know when something wasn't right, she trusted Bea, that wasn't in question, would never be in question not unless…she shook her head, she couldn't even think like that, just the though was enough to feel like she was being stabbed through the heart. Her emotions were like charging horses pulling in opposite directions, she couldn't abandon Bea just because of her insecurities, she loved her way too much , she was the most important person in her life, she was part of her soul, she had to find a way to try and change this, get her emotions in check and get them pulling in the same direction again, the only problem was she had no idea how to. After dinner they did the dishes together leaving Erica in the living room, Allie was trying not to think about it but Bea could see the concern on her face, as soon as the last of the dishes were done she pulled her into a hug. When they finally broke apart they sat in the kitchen together for over an hour, talking and laughing mainly about Allies day. Allie had relaxed a little but her mind wondered back to Erica every now and again.

“You show her up to the spare room while I lock up.”

“You sure about that, I might beat her round the head.”

Bea laughed at her her a little,

“Have I ever told you how hot you are when you're over protective?”

“I've never needed to be really protective over you though have I? I worry about you when you're not in the office, and I worry more because Franky's not around to keep an eye on you.”

“If you show her where everything is you know she's not doing whatever you think she's doing though, so please for me, you do it and I'll be right behind you.”

Allie had taken a few moments before she'd walked through to the living room, Erica was pissed off, she didn't understand how anything could be this hard, every time she'd been asked to do something it had been so easy, convincing Greg that fully concentrating on looking for Ryan hadn't been hard. She had never expected him to go behind her back and ask for help, telling him he could loose everything had done the trick, and getting rid of half of what he had found out had been even easier he was never in the office, the day he'd said he had to go to Melbourne she'd thought nothing of it. Allie showed her to the spare room showed her where the bathroom was and then disappeared without another look or a single word. Bea had locked up and stood at the bottom of the stairs, as soon as she had heard Allie close their bedroom door she went upstairs finding Allie in the en suite. Finally getting into bed Bea knew she was exhausted, she wanted to just roll over and go to sleep, get some much needed rest from the storms of the day, instead she she pulled Allie closer, she was determined not to be the first to fall asleep that night, every night that week so far she had almost fallen into bed and fallen asleep. She managed to keep her eyes open they talked about nothing much at all until Allie fell silent and Bea knew she was asleep, closing her eyes she started to drift off to sleep when her eyes flew open and she was wide awake again. Allie was wrong right? Was she being suckered into something that she wasn't prepared for? Trying her hardest to put those thoughts to one side she eventually closed her eyes again, her plan was simple, stay as far away from Erica as she could, she'd let her use the SUV while she was there, that would keep the distance between them, she'd make sure she didn't know what time she left the office to go home, if she arrived home at the same time as Allie it would work. Franky would be back in a few days, that's all she needed a few days, Franky would never agree to let anyone work with them that she hardly knew, David had been a fluke as far as Franky had been concerned they'd got on form the moment she met him and that rarely ever happened. Allowing herself to finally relax properly she drifted off to sleep, the alarm her only enemy of the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes there will be a little drama but it'll all work out in the end!


	108. Chapter 108

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bea hears some unpleasant information about Erica.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So maybe I've been sat in the sun a little too long today, I had intended to mow the lawn but I sat writing instead, theres always tomorrow, I doubt the grass will make a run for it.

After turning off the alarm Bea stretched out turning her head to face Allie who was wide awake long before the alarm had gone off.

“Good morning beautiful, did you sleep well?”

“Hmmm, I think I must have because you were right here with me. I know the alarm didn't wake you up did it?”

“Nope, I just didn't want to get out of bed and leave you. Are you rushing off to the office this morning?”

“I don't think I need to, I'll be staying in the office today, Erica can spend her day sitting in the SUV.”

“Did you have to remind me that she's here, I'd almost forgotten about her, do we really have to feed her?”

“Allie, she's a guest, I know not a very welcome one, honestly I didn't know she was going to turn up like she did, I might as well make use of her skills while she's here though right?”

“I guess, as long as you try and keep your distance from her.”

“I will, now come and have a shower with me.”

For the fist time since Franky had been away they had breakfast together, they had both been sat in the kitchen for ten minutes before Erica found her way downstairs and wondered into the kitchen. Allie begrudgingly asked her if she wanted anything to eat happy that she said she was fine with just coffee and she would get it herself. As she sat down at the table across from Bea Allie watched her, her smile now gone from her face, if Erica had noticed her expression she didn't make it known, Bea did as she turned her head to speak to her, Allie wore an expression as if she was being forced to endure a very unpleasant odour, her gaze was unwavering, her eyes followed her every move even though from the angle Bea was looking at her from it actually looked as if she was focusing on something a couple of feet away. When they had finished Bea cleared the table telling Erica to wait for her by the car.

“I promise you Allie it's going to be alright, when we get to the office I'll give her keys and let her get on with it.”

“Yer…..it's the drive over to the office I don't want to think about.”

“Nothing is going to happen, you trust me right, you know I wouldn't lie to you?”

Allie nodded before telling her she better get going, Bea kissed her telling her she'd see her later. She really didn't know what Allie was so worried about, she wasn't going to be spending much time with Erica, she would be out of the office all day, Bea needed that particular case wrapping up and having someone else to do the work meant she could get her paperwork done and hopefully do some work on another case. Walking into the office together Liz was already there and she watched them walk into Beas office, even Liz couldn't quite put her finger on it but she had an uneasy feeling about Erica, something about her didn't sit well with her and she planned on speaking to Bea about it as soon as she got the chance. As soon as Erica left the office twenty minutes later Liz took Bea a coffee. Seeing the two piles of paperwork on her desk she knew she was going to be busy, as much as she wanted to bring up the subject of Erica she decided that she would wait until lunch time, handing her the coffee she left her office closing the door behind her quietly. Bea liked days like that, the quiet days were always the best, she could idle them away taking her time over whatever she was working on, sitting at her desk with the window open, the sun streaming in she would listen to the sounds from outside. The same sounds often angered Franky when she was trying to concentrate, the rhythmic passing of the cars on the surrounding streets, the police and ambulance sirens, the car horns and the shouting that she occasionally heard where in some way therapeutic to her, and always helped her concentrate more than constant silence.

Just before lunch Liz had stopped by her office asking if she wanted to eat out or if she should walk down to the deli for a sandwich, Bea looked at the now much smaller pile of paperwork she had sitting next to her deciding that a sandwich would be the better option, that way she could keep working and not miss lunch. Liz was gone in a flash and arrived back just as quickly as she left with Allie in tow, she always managed to miss the lunchtime rush at the deli, whenever Franky went she always left the office knowing that it was going to take her twice as long as anyone else because she would never go until early. Liz and Bea always joked that she did it on purpose so she got an extra long lunch break, something Franky always denied.

“Look who I ran into on my way back.”

“Shouldn't you be at the bar?”

“Hmmmm, nice to see you too babe. Will asked me to work a couple of hours in the restaurant tonight so I have nothing to do until later on, thought I'd surprise you.”

“I'm sorry I didn't mean that how it sounded, I'm always pleased to see you, pull up a chair and come and sit with me.”

Liz took them both a coffee and handed Bea her sandwich before offering to go back and get Allie something but she said it was fine, she'd already had her lunch before she left the bar. Allie looked round the office before noticing a large pile of paperwork saying she should go home and leave her to it. Bea laughed at her pointing to the small pile letting her know that was all she had left to do and that the large pile was for David to tackle when he was in the next day.

“You don't mind me just showing up, I know you're busy?”

“I will never mind you just showing up, ever. And I've got to admit I really needed the distraction.”

They chatted for an hour before Allie said that she better get home, she needed a shower and had to get changed ready to go back to the restaurant. After Allie left Bea called Will to ask if he had a free table around the time Allie was due to finish, Friday nights she knew were always busy and was surprised when he said he did after finishing up her call to Will she went back to her paperwork finishing it earlier than she had expected to. She had intended to start work on a new case but changed her mind deciding that she was going to go home.

“Before you go love can I have a word with you?”

“Of course, there's nothing wrong is there Liz?”

“I'm not sure, this Erica person, I have a funny feeling about her.”

“I've been hearing that since I first met her in Sydney, Allie doesn't like her either.”

“How much do you actually know about her?”

“Hardly anything, it's not like I'm planning on having her around for long, but I hear what you're saying Liz, and I do appreciate your concern, guess I should have paid more attention to Allie in Sydney. Shit, you think I should tell her to leave?”

“Bea love I would never tell you what to do you know that, but if you want my advice try and keep your distance, since you have her staying with you that might be difficult I know, don't let yourself be alone with her, I don't know, Allies working tonight might be difficult?”

“Not really, I've got a table at the restaurant for tonight, I can go out earlier than I need to, shit I wish Franky was here. I'm going to head off, get ready then when she gets back I'll go out, fuck I'm so stupid!”

As she drove home she knew she'd messed up, but she couldn't just tell her she had to leave, could she, Allie would in a heartbeat she knew that. When she got home Allie was sitting on the sofa, when she heard the door open she was surprised when Bea walked in, sitting next to her she asked her how long she had before she had to leave, twenty minutes wasn't long enough to say everything she needed to say so she decided to leave it until later.

The second Erica knocked on the door Bea felt her heart rate accelerating and her mind replayed everything that both Allie and Liz had said to her, she just needed to get out of the house. Opening the door she let her in before grabbing her phone, keys and bag telling her to make use of whatever was in the fridge as she had to go out, she didn't give her a chance to reply and walked straight out of the house. She had already decided that she wasn't taking the car but couldn't leave it sitting in the drive, she drove over to Franky's and parked outside her house before calling a taxi.

As soon as Bea walked into the bar she saw Linda chatting with one of the customers when the thought occurred to her that maybe she could have heard of Erica, she wanted to speak to Franky but that wouldn't be possible until Sunday at least, sitting down on one of the stools she caught Linda's attention. Passing a beer over to Bea she leaned on the bar,

“Got ya self in a mess there Bea?”

“What?”

“Franky on vacation and a certain Erica Davidson shows up, convenient don't ya think? Wait….you do know about her don't ya?”

Bea shook her head as she looked down at the bottle in her hand unsure if she wanted to hear what she was about to be told. Linda spotted Will and left Bea sitting at the bar as she went over to speak to him, turning to watch them she saw Will nodding his head before Linda walked away heading straight in Beas direction. Gesturing for her to join her in a quiet spot in the bar Linda took a seat at a table and waited for Bea to sit down. Linda went on to first explain that Allie had mentioned her name when she first got back from Sydney, Linda had heard her name mentioned on more than one occasion mostly by a solicitor she knew in Sydney. Bea just sat in silence listening to what she had to say, as it had been recounted to Linda Erica Davidson had once been a very successful solicitor until she met Vinnie Holt, she had represented him on a number of occasions and had eventually gone on to represent a number of his associates. Things had taken a turn for her when she became more involved in his business than she should have, the rumour was that Erica had been involved with Derek Channing in some way, but that was all Linda could say, it was after all just a rumour but judging by what Allie had gone on to tell her she thought that it was highly possible that it wasn't a rumour to be taken lightly. She had eventually been fired from the firm of solicitors she had worked for and gone on to work with Greg Taylor helping him to set up the private investigation business that they jointly owned while all the time still being associated with the Holts. Bea couldn't believe what she was hearing but she also knew that Linda would tell her what she knew and she wouldn't sugar coat anything, she could feel the sweat running down her back, her temples were throbbing and her brain was racing at a hundred miles an hour while every thought that raced around her head seemed to be screaming in her ears as her heart thumped against her chest. The fingers of her left hand curled into a fist, her nails digging into her palm, she couldn't hear her own rapid breathing over the thoughts that screamed at her, but she could feel the air flooding in and out of her lungs. Hesitantly she looked at Linda as fear began churning her stomach into tense cramps, fear began to engulf her conscience knocking every other thought from her head. It was a sudden fear that normally would overwhelm her entire body and completely exhaust her but this was different, the fear she was feeling was calming her and that was something that scared her a little. Fear was madness, but it was useful to her, she knew how it worked, it would take her by the hand and help her keep the things and people she loved safe, she was ready to face her fears with a courage she didn't really know she had.

“You need to be careful around her Bea, I don't think Ryan Green was ever meant to be found, you and Franky did what was meant to be impossible after it had been covered up so well and I've heard the stories about Jess Warner and her step father, don't let yourself get caught up in something that you don't need to be.”

“You think this was planned? I mean for her to show up when Franky was gone?”

“Seems to be too much of a coincidence for it to be anything else to me, when does Franky get home?”

“Tomorrow evening, but I can't really call her until Sunday and she's not back at work until Tuesday.”

Linda sat and thought for a few moments trying to think of some way to keep Erica busy until Franky was back.

“Boomer!”

“What? What about Booms?”

“Whatever Erica is up to she needs you and Allie to be separated, well that's how it seems, so it's either for payback about Ryan which involves the Holts, or it's down to Channing, and that could be because Allie knew who he was. Either way it's not good, have Boomer stay with you, ya know she won't let anyone mess with either of ya.”

“I can hardly ask Maxi to give Booms Saturday and Monday off to babysit me.”

“It's a favour Bea, and Booms will do anything for any of ya, tell ya what leave it with me, I'll sort it out now get ya ass into the restaurant Will told me ya were here to surprise Allie.”

Bea walked into the restaurant instantly seeing Allie across the crowded room, Will walked in straight after her,

“I left the quietest table free for you, come on I'll walk you over and then I'll send Allie over.”

“How's she doing? She was worried about not having you around?”

“Looks exactly as it should to me for a Friday evening, she just needs to believe in herself a little more, she's more than capable of being in charge. I know it's going to keep her out later but it's not forever, and you know you can come over whenever you want, like I could stop you anyway.”

When they reached the table Will said he would only be a couple of minutes, finding Allie dealing with a problem that had arisen in the kitchen he stood back and waited for her finish. When she turned round to leave the kitchen she was a little surprised to see Will waiting for her, ‘Shit, what did I do wrong? Think, think,’ was all she could think to herself, her brain started screaming at her to go back and double check what she thought she had just sorted out but her feet kept her walking in the direction Will was waiting, in the grip of silent panic she kept walking, her brain synapses constantly firing like a hyped up internal aurora borealis. Coming to a stop right in front of Will she waited for him to launch into a loud rant about what she had done wrong, the smile that crept onto his face took her off guard.

“Told you you could handle anything that might happen didn't I?”

“Errrrr, yer you did, you mean I didn't screw up?”

Will laughed,

“No you didn't screw up, come with me there's someone here waiting on the pleasure of your company.”

Allie was confused but followed Will to the area of the restaurant where Bea was waiting for her, she smiled the brightest smile when she saw her sat there waiting before she looked around hoping that she wasn't going to spot Erica anywhere, relief flooded through her when she realized that it was only Bea there. Will pulled out the other chair for Allie before he disappeared back in the direction of the kitchen. Looking across the table at Bea she felt happy, even in the crowded restaurant they may as well have been alone because every other person in there just faded into the background, Allie would always be happy to see Bea, she loved to get home from work first even though she would tell her she didn't really like arriving home to an empty house. She always felt happy when Bea walked through the door, knowing that it was just the two of them for the rest of the evening, she didn't need fireworks and constant conversations, they spent most evenings just sitting together quietly, unwinding after their busy days at work. Just being near her lit her up inside, it gave her a feeling of serenity that she had never know could exist until they met. It felt like the breaths she took were never full when they were apart, like her smiles were incomplete or somehow a little fake when they weren't together, just sitting next to Bea was her favourite place to be in the world. It created a warmth that she felt all the way to her soul, it was Bea that filled her full of love and kept the fire burning in her eyes, if what she felt wasn't happiness then she didn't know what it was, Bea was her definition of happiness and that was all she needed.

“So tell me how did you ditch the bitch?”

Be smiled at her, her conversation with Linda was still fresh in her mind and she knew she would have to tell Allie what she had told her but right at that moment she just wanted to spend a little time with her before they worked out what they should do.

“I didn't give her much choice in the matter really, I got home early, when she arrived I walked out drove over to Franky's and called a taxi.”

“So she has no idea where you are? You did that for me?”

“I thought you knew already that I'd do anything for you, well…within reason.”

“Oh so it's only anything within reason is it? Hmmmm, that could be a deal breaker ya know,” Allie giggled as she reached across the table taking Beas hands in hers.

Will returned ten minutes later,

“Do you want a menu or shall I surprise you both?”

Bea looked at Allie who in turn looked at Will,

“Surprises us, I already know that whatever we have will be delicious.”

An hour later after finishing their desserts Bea sighed in satisfaction as if she had just finished a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle that she had spent 5 days, 6 hours and 31 minutes working on, looking at Allie again a smile spread across her face, as if she had won the lottery, but the feeling was so much better.

“After such a wonderful meal and being here with you I have to tell you something,” Bea sighed.

“What?” The smile dropped from Allies face as she asked, the feeling hitting her that whatever she was going to say next would feel like hammers and nails breaking her heart open.

Bea reached for her hands, looking into her eyes before she began telling Allie exactly what Linda had told her earlier. None of what she was hearing felt real, it was more like a nightmare that was coming true, she found herself wishing that she was going to wake up.

“Are you telling me that she's trying to split us up so someone can either get to you or me because of something you and Franky have done? Something you've done that was your job to do?”

“I can't say for sure right now but I do know I should have listened to you, I'm so sorry Allie.”

Bea dropped her head her eyes fixing on their joined hands waiting for Allie to pull away from her but it didn't happen as she expected, Allie let go of one hand moving her then free hand to rest under Beas chin raising her head softly as their eyes met again.

“It's not going to happen, we won't let her do that to us, and when Franky gets home we'll work it out. Did Linda have any suggestions what we should do until then?”

Before Bea could reply Linda walked into the restaurant with Boomer and Maxine following close behind.

“Got ya self in a mess aye Bea, don't worry I'm ready to go bunta on the bitches ass, no one messes with wiv my family and doesn't feel any pain.” Boomer grinned as she looked between the pair of them.

“Booms, there's no need to go bunta on anyone right now,” Maxine sighed.

“Oh come on Maxi, I'm ready to punch some tits in.”

“Booms that won't solve anything, Bea needs to try and find out exactly what's going on and that means waiting for Franky to get back, what you need to do is stick with Bea and Allie at home and stick with Bea while she's at work, Allie will be fine here I've already asked Will to swap my shifts with Shane for a few days, and Will is here so Allies safe.”

Boomer frowned at Linda but she knew she was right, Franky would find out what was going on one way or another, and the way Boomer saw it if that failed she'd just beat it out of her. When Will returned he told them that he'd organised for the part time staff to cover Linda's shifts because he'd feel better if Shane was with them. After they moved from the restaurant back to the bar Bea apologised to Maxine more than once, Maxine kept telling her that it wasn't necessary to apologise, she could manage without Boomer for as long as they needed her, what mattered more to her was that they could find out what was actually going on and that nothing happened to either Bea or Allie.

Allie drove them back over to Franky's so Bea could pick her car up,

“We all gonna get to yours at the same time aye?”

  
“You have any better ideas Booms?” Bea questioned.

“Na, guess not, won't that bitch think its like funny though?”

“Booms she didn't know where I was going, I almost ran out of there when she walked in.”

“Ahh, right, so ya not worried that she's been snoopin round the place?”

“Right now I couldn't care less, there's nothing for her to find, anything important she can't get her hands on it's all locked away safely.”

“Makes sense, so I'm sleepin in Debs room yer?”

“Yes Booms.”

Arriving home Bea and Allie entered the house first, Erica was about to say something when she spotted Boomer right behind them.

“Fuck, this isn't going to plan,” she thought to herself as she just smiled at the three of them.

“It's getting late, I think I'm going to go to bed.”

“Yer, whatever,” Allie sneered at her as she went to the kitchen with Bea following right behind her, Boomer sat down in the chair directly across from her making Erica feel more than a little uncomfortable, getting up she headed up the stairs Boomers eyes following her until she was out of sight. Once she was in the spare room she pulled her phone from her pocket and sent a text.

**Things just changed, I need more time**

She soon received a reply.

**You have until the end of next week get it done or suffer the consequences.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now even I want to know where I'm going with this so I'm planning on mowing the lawn as soon as it's a reasonable enough time for a Sunday morning then sitting in the garden to write more.


	109. Chapter 109

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erica gets a call that scares her and Franky arrives home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to get this chapter finished yesterday but I gave up, sat in the sun for way longer than I should have....and if anyone knows how rare weather like this is in the U.K. in May you'll completely understand why writing decreased as a priority.

Erica sat down on the bed staining at her phone, why she had agreed to do this was now completely beyond her, when she was back in Sydney it had sounded like a good idea, an easy job, she hadn't expected Bea to have people around her that would protect her and Allie, she had been prepared for Franky to be protective of them, she'd done her research and knew all about Francesca Doyle. Throwing her phone down on the bed beside her her heart sank, Boomer was intimidating even to her and she had mixed with some very questionable people since she had met Vinnie Holt, she had once thought that his wife was intimidating the way she would stare her down whenever she entered a room but Boomer was something else, Jacs Holt had nothing on the gorilla of a woman that was Boomer. Hearing the three of them walking up the stairs she sat motionless before she heard them all retreating to their own rooms. Getting ready for bed quickly she got into bed pulling the covers over herself she rolled towards the darker side of the room. The blinds shut out most of the light from the street lights but some of the artificial light still filtered through the gaps. Tossing from one side of the bed to the other, the bed that had that morning been so carefully made by her was now a mess of tangled covers. For short spells she would close her eyes and be fully conscious of her slow, rhythmic breathing, she was tempted to take a couple of the sleeping pills that her doctor had prescribed, they worked well, she knew she would get a full nights sleep if she took them but she hated how groggy she felt the next morning, she had to be in complete control of her thinking. As the night wore on thoughts tumbled through her mind in rapid succession, jumbling together and becoming distorted. A hundred problems that she had already worked through and solved reemerged for yet another examination. Things that she needed to remember for the next day nagged at her so much that she wanted to scream. She knew too well that she was destined to spend the whole night wrestling with her thoughts, with the dark and the light trying desperately to find some comfort from either side even though she already knew she was fighting a losing battle. She was usually content with her sleepless nights normally able to find at least some comfort in her thoughts and memories of past happy events. For a few minutes at least things seemed clearer as she fought to take control of the lethargy that had crept in and was creating a night time horror for her sleepless hours. Turning over once again the dark was all consuming but sleep was still eluded her, seeming to have simply divorced itself from her completely. She didn't need to spend her whole night sleepless, she needed rest, to refuel her crumbling energy supply. After what had seemed like a tortured eternity the room began to get lighter and the birds began their dawn chorus, she threw back the covers and stumbled out of bed.

It was too early to be up she knew that, sitting back on the bed she listened, not another sound could be heard within the house, sitting with her head in her hands she wished she hadn't said she would do this, this was meant to be a routine job, something she had done before and completed successfully within a couple of days, she had seriously misjudged the strength of Bea and Allies relationship and she couldn't understand it, what she thought she would see was a broken beyond repair Bea with her ex junkie, prostitute girlfriend, it was clear that she hadn't been given all the information that she'd needed, she hadn't expected Allie to even have a job, she'd expected that she'd be using Bea for a roof over her head and to be taking her for all she could get, finding out that Allie had a job with as much responsibility as she did was a shock, she didn't need Bea to support her, just from seeing them together she knew this wasn't going to work, she would end up losing everything she had worked for if she couldn't do this, that or she had to come clean with Bea and Franky when she was back and take her chances with them, ‘routine,’ she laughed a little to herself, this was never going to be a routine job.

When Boomer opened her eyes she half wondered if she was still dreaming, sitting up she rubbed her eyes as shafts of light burst through the gaps in the blinds to the side of her. She was awake, probably more fully awake than she had ever been at that time in a morning. Looking around her she quickly realized where she was, she thought about getting out of bed listening carefully she could hear no movement in the house, no possibility that Bea and Allie were even awake yet as she slumped back against the pillows. Her thoughts drifted back to Erica and she could feel the anger burning inside her, she didn't quite get Beas reasoning waiting for Franky to get home before they did anything about Erica, she was ready to kick her into next year if that's what it took to get the truth from her. She wanted to pin her against the wall by the throat, her anger had been building even as she slept, now she was ready to strike without any warning, it hovered over her like the morning fog and could cloud her judgement if she let it. All Boomer saw was a threat, Erica saw it as a game, Inside Boomer fires of true fury and hatred had been smouldering deep within her the second she heard about Erica and what it seemed she was trying to do, she would wait but she would dream up numerous and creative ways to exact revenge for Bea and Allie, she would have no regrets only someone else's blood on her hands.

Bea was awoken by Allie tossing and turning in her sleep as she mumbled incoherently, it was rare that Allie ever woke Bea up by her movements, she knew that she was having a nightmare, something she hadn't had in a long time and Bea knew that the only thing she could do was to try and hold her, hoping that her proximity would calm the images in her head.

In the darkness of Allies sleeping mind Bea looked at her like a stranger, instead of the beautiful soul that she loved she looked at her as if she were now her enemy, as if all the love they shared had turned to pain and fear and that fear had created a hatred that was strong enough to break them apart. She tried to reason with her, she cried she screamed she told her she loved her and Bea looked straight through her as Erica stood back and laughed. She begged and pleaded, it couldn't be the end, their lives together couldn't be over, there had to be a tiny fragment of love still there, a seed that could grow again, that could heal the pain and heal them both.

Bea pulled her close, wrapping her arms around her, whispering to her, hating that she knew it was their current situation that she had created was the reason she was now being tormented in her sleep.

Allies nightmare changed slightly, she looked at Bea, she knew who she was, knew how much she still meant to her, it still hurt, and she could see in her eyes that Bea hurt too, her eyes softened slightly and she knew she would be able to take down some of the wall that had sprung back up around her one brick at a time. There was still trust there, the feeling was new, it was a path untrodden, winding its way into the distance and out of sight, Bea took her hand, they could find their way, figure it out one step at a time, it wasn't the end, it was a new beginning, something beautiful, Erica walked away as they walked together once more.

Allie slowly opened her eyes, the memory of her nightmare still spinning in her head as she blinked a few times realizing that Bea was right there, holding her.

“What were you dreaming about?”

“N…nothing, it doesn't matter.”

“It matters to me, you were tossing and turning….its my fault I know and….”

“You couldn't have known, we still don't know what she's up to, I can't blame you for a bad dream.”

They lay for a little longer holding each other in silence, and even though they were both a little nervous about what Erica may or may not have in store for them they were still together in whatever would happen, they had spent too long sharing their vulnerabilities with each other more readily than trading cards, interlocking their hearts as much as their fingers. They were a part of each other, taken root in one another in a way that no other soul had ever been allowed to, they were each other's shelter. They were connected to a part of each other that no other living person could either see or feel, they had allowed the raw, damaged parts of their souls to be seen by the other, they saw each other's raw pain and in those moments everything was more real than even the blood that ran through their veins, they felt each other like the beating of their own hearts.

Hearing Boomer moving around in the next room made them both realize that they had probably better get out of bed even though the alarm was another ten minutes away from sounding. They made it down to the kitchen a few minutes before Boomer appeared,

“Morning Booms, did you sleep alright?” Bea asked as she was about to start the coffee.

“Yer, wondered where I was when I woke up…..Bea ya sure I can't just slap her around a bit, ya know get her plan outta her before she does anythin?”

“Booms it's not a good idea, and we can't talk about this here, she's still in the house and could walk in any second.”

“Yer, ya right, sorry bout that Bea, forgot….so what's for breakfast?”

Bea groaned and Allie laughed, it was amazing how so many of the people that Bea surrounded herself with sounded just like Debbie at meal times. The three of them were just finishing their breakfast when they heard Erica descending the stairs and they all stopped talking. The silence was absolute as she entered the kitchen making her breathing loud in her ears and she noticed every step, even though they were few, as she walked on the tiled kitchen floor. Stopping dead in her tracks as Boomer looked at her she said she was going to go straight out, turning away at speed and leaving the house as quickly as she could.

“Fucks up with her?” Boomer asked as she shrugged her shoulders as she looked at Bea.

“Don't think she likes ya Booms,” Allie giggled.

“Fine by me, jus gonna wait till I can punch her tits in.”

“Come on Booms, we need to get to the office, I've got a stack of paperwork to pass onto David.”

Erica had sped off as soon as she got into the SUV, she didn't want to stick around with Boomer keeping an eye on her, if the look in her eyes had been anything to go on when she had walked into the kitchen she was sure she was ready to rip her limb from limb and that was not part of her plan, on the drive over to her mornings destination her phone began ringing, she had thrown it on the passenger seat when she got on and she glanced down at the screen not recognising the number, pulling in as soon as she could she answered the call, before she could even speak she heard the voice on the line knowing instantly who it was.

“Well hello Erica, next time your phone rings you answer straight away do you hear me?”

She tried to speak, to say she had been driving but the caller didn't give her a chance to explain herself.

“Now we seem to have a small problem here don't we, you were given a job to do and you know what you need to do, I want that little bitch out of the way so she can be dealt with properly, you're on the verge of losing everything, remember that business you have, oh no that's right, HAD, if you want it and your business partner back you better find a way to do what I'm telling you, you've already had almost a week and nothing. I want results Erica, no one crosses me, not you not anyone.”

The line went dead and she just sat there starring at her phone in her hand, how could she have ever been this stupid, how did she let herself get this involved with people like this? She knew she couldn't do what she was being asked to do, the bond between Bea and Allie was way too strong to be broken, not to mention that they had friends, she'd only met Boomer but she guessed that the rest of the people they associated themselves with were just as formidable, not to mention that Franky would be arriving home soon, she had to make a decision one way or another.

On the ride over to the office Boomer was trying to question Bea more about Erica but half of what she was asking Bea couldn't answer, she realized that really she did know anything other than what Linda had told her and she decided that she was going to call Allie when she knew she would be at work and ask her if she minded letting her speak to Linda for a few minutes, she had a favour to ask her and she couldn't ask Allie to ask her, she had to do it herself. Boomer simply could not believe that Bea could have trusted Erica even a little. Boomer always had a hard time believing anything outside of what she knew and she thought she knew Bea well, the way she had acted was out of character for her, Bea Smith did not trust people she did not know well, all except for Allie but even Boomer knew that that had been a completely different situation, as Maxine had explained it to her when she'd questioned how Bea could want to be with Allie, how she could trust someone she didn't really know, ‘the heart wants what the heart wants, and nothing and nobody can stop that.’ And even when she had seen them together with her own eyes she had still believed that what she was seeing couldn't be real, she had doubted everything until it was proved to her that it was true, and she had watched them closely for weeks, waiting for Allie to screw up and hurt Bea, Boomer was waiting to go bunta on Allie, she was ready to snap her in two, and as she had pointed out to Maxine that wasn't going to be a hard thing to do, it never happened, and all she had seen was them get closer and stronger together, and Boomer loved both Bea and Allie, no one was going to mess with them as long as she was alive.

Not unusually they were the first to arrive at the office and Boomer sat herself in Liz's chair, Bea laughed at her telling her that Liz would not be happy if she found her sitting there when she walked in, Boomer had laughed and said that Liz wouldn't mind, after all Liz loved her didn't she? She wouldn't be mad at her for sitting there. Bea warned her not to move anything on her desk, that was something Liz would be even less happy about, Franky had been chased round the office a number of times when she'd rearranged the way Liz had her desk set out, the last time she had done it Franky had begged Bea to get Liz to stop when she had pinned her in the corner of her office, Liz was never violent but if she caught you after you had messed with her you had to hope that you weren't even slightly ticklish, Franky was extremely ticklish. Boomer had still just laughed saying she didn't care Liz couldn't scare her no matter what she threatened her with. When Liz arrived a few minutes later finding Boomer sitting in her chair with her feet on her desk she was not happy, she was surprised to see Boomer in the office at all as she thought she would be at the salon, as she got closer to her desk and saw that Boomer had moved things to one side to make room for her feet she was fuming.

“Boomer….what exactly are you doing here?”

“Hi Liz, I'm here for Bea, ya know that bitch Erica is up to sum fink and I've gotta stick with Bea.”

“Right well that answers that question, did Bea not tell you not to rearrange my desk?”

“Ummm, yer, she said sum fink about it, but ya love me Liz, ya can just move it back.”

“Get your feet off my desk and your backside out of my chair Boomer and that is not a request.”

“Fine, fine, Jesus Liz its only a desk ya know, don't have a hissy fit.”

Boomer removed her feet from the desk and got out of the chair just as David walked in, watching slightly amused as he watched Liz fly at Boomer chasing her round the office.

“Come on Liz ya too old to be chasin me round.”

Bea walked out of her office, watching the events unfold in front of her eyes she couldn't do anything but laugh, she laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes, Liz chased Boomer round in circles for five minutes before Boomer gave in, flopping down in one of the chairs. Liz pounced on her before she could even react and started tickling her, Boomer screamed and tried to wriggle free but it was of no use and they soon ended up in a heap on the floor.

“I give in…..I'm sorry Liz, I'll put everything back,” Boomer said breathlessly.

David helped Liz up from the floor in between fits of laughter before he helped Boomer up who flopped back into the chair.

“You Boomer will stay away from my desk if you know what's good for you.”

“Whatever, just no more tickling.”

Boomer looked at David and eyed him up, she had never met him before but he seemed nice enough, he'd helped her up even if he had been laughing.

“So Bea, who's this joker, he fuckin laughed at me, did ya see aye?”

“Shit Booms even I was laughing….this is David, David this is Boomer.”

David looked at Bea with a questioning look.

“Oh shit yer sorry, real name Susan, but we call her Boomer because she keeps coming back.”

David apologised for laughing before he held his handout to her,

“Nice to meet you Boomer, or should I call you Susan?”

“Not if ya like livin mate, Boomers just fine, or Booms, whatever………so ya been workin with Bea and Franky, does Franky trust ya?”

“I've actually never asked her but I hope so, I'm training to be a private investigator and Bea and Franky let me work for them part time between my studies.”

“Ok, well if ya cool with Franky then I guess I can trust ya….might even let ya off with laughin.”

“Well thank you Boomer……so what do you need me to do today Bea, I'm here all day and ready for what ever you've got for me.”

“You say that now, you might not be happy when you see the pile of paperwork I've got for you.”

Bea and David went to her office and she handed over a huge pile of paperwork that needed taking care of before David retreated to Franky's office, leaving the door wide open, he had the feeling that gaining Boomers trust may be a little difficult and he thought that if she knew she could keep an eye on him without even having to try she might be a little happier. Boomer walked into Beas office plopping herself down In one of the chairs in front of Beas desk. Bea looked at her wondering if this was really a good idea, she hated being watched when she was working. Deciding that it was as good a time as any she called Allie who answered within a couple of rings, she asked straight away if Linda was around, explaining that she needed to speak to her because she needed to ask her a favour Allie handed her phone to Linda. Bea asked her if she could possibly get any more information on Erica surprised a little when Linda said she was way ahead of her and she was waiting for a few of her contacts to get back to her, as soon as she got all the information she needed she promised to let Bea know what she had found out. After speaking to Allie for a few minutes she hung up placing her phone back on her desk as she watched Boomer pacing around her office. Boomer could never sit still, everyone who knew her knew that, whatever room Boomer was in it always buzzed with energy, when she left though it always felt as if something was missing.

After their day was over in the office Liz offered to lock up, she'd wanted to ask why Boomer was there constantly walking around, asking Liz questions about what she was doing and walking in and out of Bea and Franky's offices if she wasn't looking out of the window. Liz had no idea what was going on but knew that there had to be a reason for Boomer to be there and the more she had watched her the more she thought that it must have something to do with Erica, she was sure she would find out eventually when Bea was ready to tell her.

Bea and Boomer arrived home before Allie and when they heard a knock on the door Boomer told Bea she would answer it, she was expecting it to be Erica and she was ready for anything, opening the door she was stunned to see Franky standing there.

“So ya gonna let me in Booms or am I going to have to shout to Red for the rest of the day?”

“Yer, sorry Franky, wasn't expectin ya, guess ya better come in.”

Walking into the living room she saw Bea sitting on the sofa flicking through the channels on the tv.

“So Red ya gonna tell me what the fuck ya were thinking lettin Erica help ya out? And lettin her stay here, shit Red, where's ya head at?”

“Guess you better sit down and let me tell you everything.”

Franky sat next to her on the sofa as Boomer sat in the chair opposite them as Bea tried to explain everything to her. Before she could finish Allie walked in with Linda.

“I got what ya asked for Bea, it worse than I thought.”

Franky shook her head, if anyone could get themselves in trouble it was always Bea.

“Right well, she'll be gettin back soon won't she? I think we should all go over to mine, she ain't gonna think to look for us over there, if she's got any sense she won't think of comin looking for ya, we need to sit down and work out how we're gonna clean up this fuckin mess Red.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try and step up my writing, I need to get this story finished, I have some things that I need to work through and I just can't do that while I need to concentrate on writing, I've always promised not to be one of those people who leave a story unfinished and I will not leave this unfinished. I'll try and clear my head and write, might not be easy but I intend to finish what I started.


	110. Chapter 110

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can Erica actually go through with the plan?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting a bit later than I planned but still next chapters here now.

When Erica arrived back at Bea and Allies she was puzzled why there was only Allies car in the drive as she walked towards the door a thought hit her, if Bea wasn't at home then neither was their friend, Allie would be alone and that was a chance for her to do what she was there to do, it didn't matter what she did she just had to get them apart, she had to think quickly, gathering her thoughts she tapped on the door and waited for it to be opened. When no one answered she thought that she hadn't been heard and knocked a little louder, still nothing, she pressed her ear to the door after knocking again, there wasn't a sound coming from inside, she thought that maybe Allie was in the shower and hadn't heard her so proceeded to make her way round to the back of the house, opening the gate she went straight to the kitchen window looking in she saw nothing, it didn't look as if anyone had even been back since they had all left that morning. She knew it was pointless trying the back door if no one was in but there was always the chance that they had forgot to lock it before they left, trying it it was locked. She sighed and made her way back to the SUV, nothing made sense, it was after 6pm so someone should be home. Getting into the SUV she decided to drive over to the bar where she knew Allie worked hoping that maybe she had gone back there with friends, when she arrived she went inside seeing no one that she recognised, after hanging around for a few minutes she left, Beas office was the only other place in that moment she could think to try. She drove over to the office hoping above all else that Bea was working late, as soon as she parked she knew it had been a wasted trip, the blinds were closed and she could tell that there were no lights on. Getting out of the SUV she tried the door, it was locked, ‘Fuck,’ she said under her breath, she had no idea what was going on but she had to do something but what? There was only one place she could look and that was Franky's place, deciding that she would just drive past, if Beas car was there she knew she was going to be in trouble it meant Franky was already home from vacation and that was going to make everything harder, they would have no need to keep her around. What she feared the most became a reality as she drove past Franky's house seeing Bea, Allie and Boomer just leaving the house looking happy and relaxed as they were saying their goodbyes to Franky and Bridget, she sped off not wanting them to see her.

“Well fuck Red, your stalkers back, just drove past. Don't forget what we talked about yer?”

“I won't Franky, not sure if she will fall for it though, not now anyway, if she knows you're back she could just run.”

“Na she won't, you think she's stupid enough to run, come on after all Linda told ya, just get her to the office by 10am and leave the rest to me.”

“Ya mean leave it to Booms don't ya Franky, I doubt she'll be that scared of you on ya own,” Allie said as she was walking away.

“Whatever blondie, and don't be keeping Bea in bed late in the morning, I know it's Sunday an all but we gotta get the truth outta her.”

“Yer,” Allie sighed, “I hate missing out on our only day off together.”

“Shit blondie, all I'm asking Bea to do is get her to the office, she ain't stayin, not gonna get shit outta her if Beas around.”

After they left Franky called Linda asking her if she could possibly be at their office in the morning, she agreed and they ended the call.

When they got home there was no sign of SUV or Erica, they had been in the house for no more than five minutes when there was a knock on the door, Boomer jumped up from the chair she was sitting it, yanking the door open she found Erica stood there.

“Huh, better come in I guess.”

Boomer moved out of the way to let her in watching her closely as she walked in before closing the door and locking it. Erica didn't know what to say or do as she entered the living room, she was scared, she guessed that Bea had to be on to her, why else would she have Boomer there? She mumbled that she was going to leave them to enjoy the rest of their evening and that she was tired and needed a shower, she was about to walk away and head upstairs when Bea spoke.

“Would you mind coming to the office with me in the morning? We need to go over what you've observed and as much as I hate to work on a Sunday I know you'll be needing to get back to Sydney, is 10 am good for you?”

“Yes, that's fine,” Erica smiled at her and walked away.

Entering the spare room she sat on the bed, she couldn't believe her luck, for the first time she would have Bea alone, that would be her chance to get this done. After showering she went back to the spare room to come up with a plan, after an hour she still hadn't been able to formulate a half decent plan from her muddled thoughts when her phone rang, seeing the same number on the screen that had called previously she answered it by the third ring.

“So pleased to see you do know how not to keep me waiting, there's been a change of plan, a very good friend of mine will be in Melbourne on Tuesday, you need to keep them apart for the evening and he'll take care of the rest, don't let me down Erica, the rest of your life depends on what you do.”

The line went dead and she threw her phone down on the bed, this wasn't good, laying back on the bed she cried, she couldn't do this, she couldn't cause anyone else pain ever again, Bea and Allie had done nothing to deserve it, she felt alone, so completely and utterly alone with no one to comfort her. For the first time in her life she was now completely alone, sitting herself up she rested her back against the headboard for a few minutes before getting up and turning the light off, returning to the bed she sat in silence her mind racing as she watched the dim light from the outside world completely fade away, sitting alone she found herself feeling utterly terrified in the darkness. After another hour had passed she heard Boomer calling down the stairs telling Bea she was going to bed and to remember that she was in the next room. Hearing her walk past her room she didn't even realize that she had been holding her breath until she heard Boomers door bang closed.

Bea and Allie were still sitting on the sofa, the tv on but the sound was turned down.

“Do you think Franky can get her to tell the truth?”

“I've known Franky for so long, I've seen how persuasive she can be, if anyone can she can, come on you know her, she could charm the birds out of the trees if she had to.”

“I guess, and if not Booms will just kick her head in,” Allie giggled.

“Yer, she's been dying to do that, but we have to hope that it won't come to that, it would be better to know what was going on.”

“Agreed, shall we go up to bed? Since you have to get up in the morning we can't sit here all night.”

“Hey, I'm taking her to the office, you know the plan, although I suspect Franky may well have added a few things to it by now if I know her, I just have to get her there and then I'm coming straight home.”

Turning off the tv Bea stood up, taking Allie by the hand they went upstairs, stopping for a moment outside their bedroom door, everything was silent until they heard Boomer call out,

“Good night Bea, goodnight blondie, keep the noise down will ya?”

Bea shook her head as she opened the door and Allie giggled before she answered,

“Good night John Boy,” Allie giggled.

“Huh!” Boomer jumped off the bed and swung the door open.

“I don't get it blondie, who's John Boy?”

“Never mind Booms, go back to bed, see ya in the morning yer.”

“Yer, but I mean it keep the noise down, I remember this one time I stayed over with Franky and….”

“We get the picture, good night Booms.” Bea laughed.

“Ya missing out on a good story….”

The house fell totally silent a short time later and still Erica knew that once more sleep would evade her, the numb frost bite of her loneliness washing over her once more in her dark room. She sat with her back pressed hard against the headboard in the dark room, her hand shivered as she traced patterns against her leg, she felt her world crack all fragments of hope that she had clung to were almost gone. The state of raw abandonment she had felt so many times before washed back over her entire being as if it were going to swallow her sanity whole, she wanted to sleep so badly and she closed her eyes willing herself to forget everything, let it all go at least for a few hours, she could feel all sense of reason slipping away from her as her frozen fingers tried so desperately to cling onto it. Resting her head against the headboard she felt her puffs of warm breath threading out of her lips, it wasn't cold but she felt frozen she'd do almost anything at that point to feel some radiating heat come from somewhere. Closing her eyes briefly she allowed a small smile to creep across her lips as the thought occurred to her that maybe she could salvage something from this, find Greg unharmed, maybe it was possible if she could just hold out a little longer. Her eyes sprung open once more, how could her thinking now be so different, so alien to how she usually thought things through, how could she have willingly chosen to cause suffering when that choice could so easily make her own all the worse? She sat in the dark, in the pit that she had chosen to make her world, the only decoration was her own nail marks on the black walls that she knew without help she could never scale, even though she knew that there was light at the top it felt a million miles away, so far that she thought she may never see it again. She had to reach out to someone, to anyone up there who could throw her a rope, help pull her from the blackness that she had for many years allowed to surround her, Greg had tried to help her, Greg….the floor of her self inflicted pit sank a little lower sending a jolt through her body, crushing her with yet more pain, just one more person she had abandoned. She didn't deserve to get out, she'd hurt so many people in ways she didn't even think she was capable of yet she had done it, listened to a man who had given her everything her greedy heart had desired, the realisation hitting her that maybe she wasn't ever meant to get out, she's wasn't meant to, but Greg was. Moving herself to sit on the edge of the bed, even though she felt as if she had no strength to move, her shaky fingers finally coming to a stop as she restlessly ran them through her now messy hair. She bit down on her bottom lip trying not to cry again, it wouldn't help, crying wasn't going to change anything, if her father was only there to see her now he'd laugh at her. She felt nothing but desolation as that thought entered her head, her heart started racing when she thought just how disappointed her father would be if he could see her now as she allowed the silent tears to once again leave her eyes and roll down her face.

A few hours later she was awoken by the sound of Boomers voice right outside her door talking to Bea who was already halfway down the stairs. She didn't know when she had fallen asleep but judging by how tired she still felt it couldn't have been that long ago. She waited, still laying on the bed until she knew that the three of them were downstairs, before leaving the room to take a shower. After making herself feel slightly more human again she headed downstairs feeling a little less stressed than she had the previous day, she had come to a decision, one that could still cost her everything but she knew it was time to stop playing with Fire, this had to end before either she or the people around her ended up dead. Reaching the kitchen she again felt Boomers eyes on her, burning into to skin and making her feel uneasy, Allie offered her coffee which she accepted but chose not to sit with them at the table as they finished eating. When Allie made a start on the dishes Bea said they had better get going, Boomer had almost bounced out of the house with Beas car keys in her hand, she was ready for a fight, to teach this bitch a lesson she would never forget.

Franky had arrived at the office a little after 9am, she did not want to be there in the slightest but she was not about to stand back and watch as Bea got hurt or worse. She had even gone to the trouble of calling David the previous evening, he'd readily agreed to be there, he liked Bea, know her since he was a kid and like Franky he knew what Harry had put her through. David and Linda arrived almost at the same time and Franky took them both to her office, filling them in on what she wanted to happen versus how it could happen. Linda told her a little more information that had arrived in her inbox during the early hours, David didn't actually know what was going on, he'd only seen Erica in passing and really couldn't fathom what was going on, Linda and Franky filling him in made everything click into place for him and he became just as determined as Franky get this resolved, however it went he was in it until the end.

Bea knew what she had to do as she got in the car, Boomer getting in beside her in the passenger seat leaving Erica to sit in the back.

“Keys,” Bea said to Boomer as she held her hand out.

“Ha, sorry Bea, I thought it would save time if I, ya know unlocked the car for ya.”

“Hmmmm, that little plan doesn't work if I can't start the engine.”

The ride over to the office was spent with Boomer recounting events at the salon, how she'd played more than one practical joke on Kim, the last one backfiring on her when she'd switched one of the chairs for one that was broken right before lunch one day not realizing that both Kim and Maxine had seen her do it, Maxine had gone in the back as soon as Boomer had left and changed it with the one Boomer always insisted on sitting in, when Kim had sat down and nothing happened Boomer had assumed that she was too light to break it completely until she herself had taken her seat and fallen to the floor in a heap causing Kim and Maxine to laugh at her for the rest of the week. Arriving at the office Bea was pleased when she saw Franky's car parked across the street and that she hadn't forgotten to lock the door. Once inside Boomer said she would make coffee as Bea and Erica went to her office, Erica was tense she knew she had to do this but couldn't find the words to get it out so for the first few of minutes told Bea about the case she'd been helping her with, that wasn't a lie at least, she had done as Bea had asked. Bea stopped her mid sentence saying she needed coffee leaving her office and closing the door behind her gesturing to Boomer to let Franky know she was leaving locking the door quietly on her way out before heading back home.

Boomer was surprised to find Linda and David sat with Franky but relieved a little as well, Linda knew everything and had supplied Bea with all the information there was on Erica, and having David there was just a bit of extra back up should she need it, and it didn't hurt that Boomer had found that she actually liked the guy. Erica sat quietly in Beas office waiting for her to return when Franky walked in, a very serious expression plastered on her face that made Erica's heart sink and her stomach twist. Sitting down in Beas chair Franky eyed her across the desk as the other three walked into the office, Boomer stood by the door and she knew the game was up, she had planned on telling Bea the truth anyway, but this was an unfair situation, four of them and only one of her, she'd always found Boomer intimidating but this was on a whole new level of intimidation.

“Sooooo.” Franky began.

“Ya gonna tell us what the fuck you're doing here? What the hell do ya think ya doing?”

“I'm sorry,” was all Erica could manage to say in a hushed tone.

“Ya sorry? Not as sorry as ya will be if you don't start telling the truth, and I don't mean a censored version of it.”

Erica hung her head, looking at the floor, she couldn't think, she wanted to cry, wanted to run away and never look back.

She knew she had to be honest, she couldn't hold her tongue, she never thought she could lie the way she had been doing for so long, the promise of money or threats as was the case this time had made her do things that went completely against her nature, people trusted her and the lies she had told both now and in the past had broken the trust she had with so many people, even the people she had loved. She was afraid of saying what she needed to say yet somehow she didn't fear the questions she knew Franky would ask. Franky waited patiently for her to start explaining the whole situation and Erica knew that she wanted complete honesty, she had to look her in the eye, she couldn't lie when she looked someone in the eye she knew that, the truth was always written there. Raising her head she sat up straight looking Franky in the eye before she began. Telling her everything right from the beginning, telling her how she became involved with Vinnie Holt and how he had introduced her to Derek Channing, she had taken care of a few things for Channing in the past but never really got involved until Dana had gone missing with his money, she had advised him how to find her and that had meant involving a private investigator, he tried to persuade her to do it but as she lived in Sydney that hadn't been practical, she'd heard of Bea and Franky, they had made quite a name for themselves in the location of missing people. When Dana had been found she'd been introduced to Joan Ferguson, she scared Erica more than anyone she had ever met. When Channing had recognised Allie he had demanded that she be gotten rid of, she knew too much, Erica had convinced them both that Allie wasn't a threat, but that was before they were arrested neither of them wanted to take the chance that she could tell everything she knew, now their trial dates had been set they wanted her out of the picture.

“So you're telling me that this is all on Channing and Ferguson?”

Erica shook her head, it was true they wanted rid of Allie but the Holts wanted rid of Bea, Vinnie Holt had killed Sky Pierson because she had threatened to go to the police when he'd refused to give her more drugs, Sky was friends with Jess Warner and knew exactly how she had got Ryan, she knew that Vinnie had been bribing the chief for years to keep himself and the people that worked for him out of court, Vinnie had made Jess take Luke, no one would spend a great deal of time looking for him anyway, that was his reasoning and Jess had done as he had said. She carried on pouring her heart out about everything she knew hoping that Franky wasn't going to let Boomer do what she guessed Boomer did best when she'd finished telling her everything.

“Well fuck, and you knew about all this all this time, you let Greg take on a case knowing that he could never find Ryan because you would do anything it took to keep him from finding him.”

“He's the chiefs nephew, how could I let him find out what he had been doing for years?”

“And where is Greg?”

“I honestly have no idea, I had to tell Bea something so I told her that he'd closed our office, I don't know who has him but I think it's down to Derek Channing.”

“And how can you be certain of that?”

“Because he's been calling me from prison.”

“You really expect me to believe that? Those calls are recorded they'd be on to him straight away if anyone bothers to listen.”

“He's got a mobile phone.” Erica got her phone from her jacket pocket, showing her first the text messages then the call log. “He said I have to keep them apart on Tuesday evening, someone will be here to deal with Allie.”

“The fuck, an ya were going to do it?”

Erica shook her head, “how could I have done that, I've seen them together, Bea would never have done anything I asked even if she hadn't been suspicious. When Bea said she wanted me to come to the office today with her I'd already decided that I would tell her everything….but Greg…I have no idea where he is.”

“Fuck this shit, I'm calling Detective Ayoub, she needs to be told about this, shit, fuck…..if anything happens to either of them….Booms get her out of my sight, take her to my office and keep an eye on her.”

Franky got straight onto the phone, the detective was a little surprised to get a call from her, as soon as Franky told her what was going on she said she would be at the office within 30 minutes.

“Wouldn't it be a good idea to call the detective you were working with in Sydney as well?” David asked.

Franky looked up at him nodding her head and dialled Paul's number, telling him everything Erica had just told her about Vinnie Hold, since it was Sunday he said he needed to make a call and would call her back as soon as he could. Leaving Beas office Franky, Linda and David got a coffee and sat together, waiting for Detective Ayoub to arrive. Erica sat in Franky's office trying not to look at Boomer as she stood hovering by the door watching her, she couldn't stop worrying about Greg, her actions to this point she knew had been stupid, but she had told the truth, she had hidden the truth for so long, and now they were getting detectives involved, she saw no good way out of this for her, maybe they could find Greg before it was too late and keep Bea and Allie safe, honesty this time was not a diminutive favour, it was something she had given freely and more than likely at her own great expense. She hurt when she thought about the things she had done but she would heal, telling the truth had been hard but it was the right thing to do, some people like Vinnie Holt and Derek Channing thought the truth was not a valuable thing, but the truth is and always will be the foundation of anything strong, being honest is always hard but the sense of relief she felt after telling Franky made it worth it. She had lived with lies swirling around her for so long she felt as if she would suffocate and now her friend was in danger, was he hurt, afraid had he been beaten and left for dead, she had no answer to any of her own questions. If he were found alive or dead she would live with the guilt, she'd bumbled along like a sheep for way too long. Guilt would be like ice in her guts, freezing her from the inside, there was no way she could melt it alone, she needed help to set things right, she wanted to be better, as a little girl she had wanted to be perfect and she couldn't be, had never matched quite what her fathers expectation had been for her, she wanted so badly to move past her mistakes, she owned them alone and she wanted to let them go.

Detective Ayoub arrived a short time later along with another detective who introduced himself as Don Kaplan, Franky told them more about the situation until her phone rang and she left Linda and David to carry on. Paul told her that he and Davis had been given permission to fly over to Melbourne early the next day and that other detectives including Jones and Roberts would be keeping a close eye on the Holts and their closest associates. When Franky returned from her office detective Ayoub informed her that she had just received a call from the prison Channing was at, they had carried out a search and a mobile phone had been found in his cell, he was currently in solitary protesting his innocence of course, the same had been done with Ferguson but nothing had been found, not that they expected to, she was always way more cunning than Channing.

“No offence but she ain't going back to stay with Bea.” Franky said as she pointed to Erica in her office.

“Of course not, firstly we're taking her down to the police station, we need to get her official statement, and anything she might not have thought to tell you may also help, we’ll keep her safe and out of the way where no one will think to look for her.”

“What about Bea and Allie?” Linda asked.

“First thing tomorrow morning we’ll have plain clothes officers following them around, and outside their home.”

“But can ya keep em safe? No one knows who's going to arrive on Tuesday.”

“We have detectives looking into Channing’s contacts as we speak, officers are at the prison going through his visitation log and all his permitted telephone calls, the mobile will be on its way to be forensically examined, we have experts Franky. We’ll take Ms Davidson here to the station and then I'll be over to see Bea and Allie, I'm assuming you're all going to be there?”

“No shit, at least I'll be there with Booms.”

“So I'll see you again soon.”

The detectives escorted Erica out to their car and drove off at speed.


	111. Chapter 111

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is Allie in danger or is it Bea?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems I had nothing better to do than write today, so here you go another chapter.

Bea was pacing the kitchen floor long before Detective Ayoub arrived, Franky had tried calming her down but nothing she did was working, while Allie was sitting in the living room with Boomer, Linda and David, Franky had tried to tell them both everything that Erica had told her, the second she heard that someone was coming for Allie she went into full panic mode, she never even heard the part about someone coming after her. As the first signs of panic arrived she had jumped off the sofa, the discomfort in her chest becoming overwhelming the instant those words had left Franky's lips, her mind was racing, the feeling in her head felt like she had drunk an excess of caffeine. The urge to run, escape or to just hide kept her pacing the floor, the feelings she was experiencing were no different from how she felt when she knew it was going to be a bad night with Harry. She felt like she was right back where she had started from fearing a punch or a well aimed kick, her brain didn't seem to understand the passage of time, didn't recognise how old the original trauma was, or even how old she was, when he first started to get violent she thought that everyone else she knew must all be so clear and sorted in their heads, she couldn't believe for a second that maybe that wasn't the case. She reverted back to being the same person she had been back then just with a few more miles on the clock, the more she paced the stronger the panic grew, her usual strong mental capabilities giving way to emotions, making her want to jump right out of her own skin. Every feeling grew and she felt as if just the air around her was going to strangle her, she tried to speak, straining her vocal cords but nothing came out. She stopped pacing the second Allie had had gone to the kitchen after Linda had finished telling her what Franky hadn't finished, when she got to the kitchen she wrapped her arms around her waist, Beas body suddenly became wracked with raw sobs, fear had consumed each and every cell in her body, even wrapped up in Allies embrace she could feel the terror and the rise in her blood pressure. Resting her head on Beas shoulder Allie whispered to her, trying to calm her her down as Franky left the kitchen wanting to give them them some space.

“Everything will be alright, nothing is going to happen to either of us.”

“You can't know that,” Bea managed to say between sobs that were slowly starting to dissipate.

“I do, we have a lot of people looking out for us, and more importantly we're together, we can't be separated, we won't let anyone do that to us.”

Franky and Linda had decided that it would be a good idea not to wait any longer than necessary to appraise Will on the whole situation, as soon as Linda had told him he said he was coming straight over. Franky was already working out her own plan to try and help, keeping them both safe was her top priority, the police could only do so much and as she saw it they didn't know either of them very well. When Detectives Ayoub and Kaplan arrived the the living room descended into absolute silence and Franky swore there had been a noticeable drop in the air temperature, even from the kitchen Bea didn't need to see them to know they had arrived.

“We should go and speak with detective Ayoub babe.”

“What can she do? This is all my fault, if I'd never agreed to take on the Channing case or look for Ryan this wouldn't be happening.”

“I know you remember, you would never turn down a case when you know someone really needs your help. Channing was only out for himself, you did the best job you could, you found Dana, the way that worked out was not your fault, you found her. You returned Ryan to his parents that was the right thing to do, you helped Luke become part of a real family, nothing is your fault. You did the right thing you aren't responsible for the way other people play games for their own advantage and use other people, you know how other people can be and you can't deny that, those people don't know the meaning of love, what its like to be consumed with the need to help to the best of their abilities, you and Franky do, we do. Remember both of us know how people like Channing work, and neither of us need to apologise for not trying to sugar coat the world or depend on a child's picture book version how the world and people in it work.”

Bea sighed, she knew Allie was right, if they hadn't been looking for Dana Channing would still be exploiting women just for the money they made him. If they had not looked for Ryan he would not be at home with his parents and Luke would never have had a real family.

“I'm sorry, I just heard half of what Franky said and I got inside my own head.”

“I know and it's ok, but believe me nothing is going to happen to me, or you, I won't let it, I'm selfish like that because I know I couldn't live, wouldn't want to live without you.”

Neither of them missed the knock on the door that announced Wills arrival and they both went back to the living room finding the detectives waiting for them. Sitting on the sofa with Franky they listened to what detective Ayoub had planned, Bea wasn't completely happy knowing that until this was settled they were going to be watched day and night, but if that was what it took to keep Allie safe she would work with it. Franky had a few ideas of her own that the detectives agreed to and even David had made a few calls long before the detectives had arrived.

Boomer was adamant that she wasn't leaving, all she needed to do was call Maxine and go home to collect more clothes, David had offered to drive her home and unusually for Boomer she had accepted his offer, that didn't go unnoticed by Franky or Bea who just looked at each other with a raised eyebrow. Once the detectives left Boomer had called Maxine who had insisted she was going over until Bea took the phone from Boomer eventually convincing her that everything would be fine, from the amount of people there already, and the numerous phone calls that had been made and received they had all the help they were ever likely to need, promising that she would call her if she needed anything before passing the phone back to Boomer.

———————————————

Monday morning arrived and neither Bea or Allie wanted to get out of bed, even the alarm hadn't motivated Bea to move an inch, except the few inches back to Allie after she'd turned it off.

“You know we've both got shadows from this morning,” Bea sighed.

“Babe, we've both had shadows already, you had Booms and Shane and Linda watched my every move,” Allie said softly.

“Yer, I didn't think of it like that….i love Booms to bits but shit she can be so annoying.”

The sound of Boomer moving around in the room next to them finally got them both out of bed, they'd both showered, dressed and were in the kitchen making breakfast before she put in an appearance. Hearing a knock on the door Bea froze on the spot, Allie grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, “it's ok,” she whispered as Boomer raced out of the kitchen to the door, yanking it open she found David standing there with two muscular men standing behind him.

“Morning Boomer, everything alright?”

“I think so, ya wanna come in?”

“That would be great, I've brought over two ex army buddies of mine, this is Adam and this is Gary.”

“Ok, what do we need them for?”

“When I was making calls yesterday I was trying to find some of my mates from the army that could help out, you're only one person Booms and their good guys.”

“Hmmm, better come in then, hope ya don't want feedin.”

“Na Booms, we've had breakfast,” David laughed as the three of them walked into the house.

“Good, I ain't sharin my breakfast, Beas in the kitchen.”

David followed by his friends went to the kitchen, Bea wasn't to keen having more people hanging round the office, Boomer was one thing but since Liz would be around she could pretty much keep an eye on her and keep her out from under her feet. David made his case and by the time he'd finished telling Bea why an extra set of eyes on each of them wasn't a bad thing she gave in and admitted that it would be a good idea. Both of his friends had been in the 2nd commando regiment while they were in the army, after leaving they had re trained and worked in close personal protection, since Bea was more concerned about Allies safety she'd rather they were both with Allie but neither of them agreed with that, there was already a car parked outside their house with plain clothed police officers sat inside.

“It'll be a few days Bea, maybe only a couple, and I think it's more up to Boomer who she wants hanging around with her. You won't even know that they are there.”

“Hmmm, seems a little over the top, I'm hardly anyone special.”

“Babe you know that's a lie, you're someone special to me and Debbie and I'm certain you're special to all your friends, stop trying to argue. When will you see the detectives again?”

“I don't know, never thought I'd see Detective Ayoub again, never thought I'd need to.”

Bea was uncomfortable with the whole idea but didn't want to upset Allie so just ate her breakfast in silence while Allie and Boomer made fun of each other, Allie just seemed so sure that nothing bad would happen and Bea struggled to believe that resigning herself to just go with the help that her friends were offering.

Bea had been in her office for an hour and was struggling to concentrate, she needed a distraction, Paul and Davis’s arrival soon gave her that distraction. Franky waltzed into Beas office with them in tow before going back to her own office for another chair. Paul said they couldn't stay long but wanted to stop by before they went to the police station to check in with Detective Ayoub who he'd already spoken to, it had been agreed that they were going to make this a joint operation since Erica was involved with both Derek Channing and Vinnie Holt. Franky really wanted to ask if they had identified the remains that had been found but decided that could wait.

“You look like you've got some good people round you here Bea.”

“I guess, I don't like it though, I'm not the one being threatened am I?”

“Not right at this moment no, but Vinnie Holt is unpredictable, I doubt he thinks there is a problem right now and we aim to shut him down before he has a chance to do anything that could be a threat to you.”

A short while later Paul and Davis left to go and meet Detective Ayoub.

———————————————

Paul and Davis were escorted to an interview room where Detectives Ayoub and Kaplan were again interviewing Erica, the officer who escorted them knocked on the door and waited. Suspending the interview Detective Kaplan left the room to get some drinks as Detective Ayoub took Paul and Davis to another interview room further down the corridor.

“She's given me a couple of names of people she knows Vinnie Holt uses to ‘get rid of his problems,’ is actually how she put it. And after going through the prison visitor and phone logs for Derek Channing we believe that we've come up with two possible people that could be working for him, no surprises when I say one of them is ex special forces.”

“We have emailed you all the information we have on Vinnie Holt that we think will be of use to you, maybe we could go through it all when you've finished with her.”

“I think we're about done to be honest, she'll be taken somewhere safe with 24 hour protection for her safety, but mainly so she can't contact Channing or Holt.”

Kaplan came back with coffee and said he was going back to the interview room.

“Maybe you would like to go to my office, let me get someone to take you up, should be done in no more than an hour, the Channing and Ferguson files are on my desk, they may be of use to you, you'll certainly find them interesting if nothing else.”

The officer who had escorted them to the interview room returned to take them to Detective Ayoub’s office, after she asked the officer to wait with them in case they needed anything she told him that they were going to read the files on her desk, a fresh pair of eyes even on a case that had once seemed unrelated was not going to hurt.”

Walking to the office Paul's mobile rang, answering it he found a very excited Detective on the line telling him that they knew who Vinnie Holt was sending after Bea and that he was already in Melbourne, he actually lived there, carrying on before Paul had a chance to say anything, it was the same person who was working for Channing his name was Martin Sharp, ex special forces of the 2nd commando regiment. Ending the call Paul looked at Davis with a worried look,

“Seems she isn't making things up.”

Entering the office the officer sat in the corner of the room leaving Paul and Davis to to read through the files. Before they got halfway through them Detective Ayoub returned.

“Kaplan’s taking her over to the safe house now, have you found anything useful in the files?”

“Not yet, I did receive an interesting call a short time ago, it would seem that Holt and Channing are using the same guy, his name is Martin Sharp and he's ex special forces.”

———————————————

The end of the day couldn't come soon enough for either Bea or Franky, although Franky shouldn't have been back at work until Tuesday she hadn't wanted to leave Bea in the office and Bridget had agreed with her, she would be at work anyway and as long as Franky would be home on time it didn't really matter, the only thing waiting for either of them was the rest of the laundry that needed doing. Franky had already planned on getting Bea out of the office by four anyway, her mind wasn't on anything she had tried to work on and she had called and texted Allie at least hundred times that day to check that everything was still alright. At 3:30pm Franky threw the file she had been looking though back down on her desk after she'd heard Bea snap at Boomer for something she had said,

“That's it Red, you're goin home, ya can pace the fuckin floor just as well there.”

“The fuck are you on about?”

“I've been watchin ya all day, ya can't concentrate, ya either pacing or on the phone to blondie, ya drivin everyone nuts……Booms drag her ass home so I can have some peace for 5 minutes.”

Bea tried to argue but Franky wouldn't back down, Liz got involved before a full blown argument could break out between them and Bea had gone back to her office in a huff to get her things. As she was walking out of the door with Boomer and Adam following Franky shouted after her,

“If ya still in this mood tomorra for fuck sake stay at home would ya!”

Bea walked to her car but didn't get in straight away, she knew she was acting like a child but she couldn't stop worrying, if anything happened to Allie she didn't know what she would do, Boomer was already in the backseat and Adam in the passenger seat before she got in, Adam had said he should drive, he was trained after all but she wouldn't allow it, she wasn't going to change the way she did things for anyone so he'd agreed to sit in the passenger seat. None of them had noticed the tall, dark haired muscular man standing by the side of one of the buildings across the street.

Martin Sharp had arrived at the spot he'd picked out on Saturday evening, far enough away for Bea not to see him he thought, not too far away that he would miss her when she left her office, there had been a change of plan as soon as Derek Channing had been put in solitary, no one could contact him while he was there and Vinnie Holt had decided that he needed his little problem taking care of, he wasn't waiting on Channing. Martin watched on as he saw Bea step out of the office and walk to her car, her curly red hair falling in soft layers around her shoulders, she had the right hair and the right physique but he needed her to turn her head so he could get a positive ID on the face. She turned her head to look across the street before she got into her car. As he looked in his magnified scope he realized that the photograph he had of her had done her no justice at all, her eyes shone and there was a genuine look of concern on her symmetrical features as she looked around, and her lips, shit he wanted to just reach out and touch those lips. This would be the first time he had ever killed a woman, not that it bothered him, he'd just never been asked before, now there were two he needed to dispatch, he always maintained a cool detachment when it came to his marks, but there was something about this woman that made him want to rethink that. Usually he preferred not to think of them as people, on the occasions when he did he tried to see them as they were already dead, until he killed them they were no more than walking bags of meat just waiting for the butcher to dispatch them. He was just sending them to their destiny he was merely the promise, the conduit for that destiny. And the way he looked at it, everyone has to die sometime, even he had to die eventually, however he chose to end his marks life it would be a good way to die, no illness, no long drawn out goodbyes. Mostly they were just happy, completely oblivious to what was going to happen to them happy one second and gone the next, simple, convenient and painless. But that was not the way Bea was going to meet her end, Vinnie Holt was very specific what had to be done to her, she had to suffer, hers would be a slow excruciating end.

On the drive back home Bea was getting increasingly annoyed by being followed by the plain clothes officers, looking over at Adam she asked him if he thought they were too close, he swung his head round to look out of the back window, he did think they were a little too close but he said it wasn't unusual for the police to do that, their training was after all different from his and he also pointed out that almost all police aren't actually trained to do that kind of thing, it was just the luck of the draw he summed it up, you either get someone who knows what they are doing or you don't. Adam did say he would have a word with them when they got back to the house if it was really unsettling her.

“Hey, so Adam, like are you guys staying over as well, cos if ya are there's only one spare room?” Boomer asked from the backseat.

Adam laughed, “No Boomer, I'll stay with you and Bea during the day that's all, I reckon you're all safe once you're home.”

“Ahh, so ya come back in the mornin and then just stick around till we get home again, fair enough. So what happens if the cops aren't doin their jobs and we need help in the night, ya know it could happen.”

“Can't get nothing past ya can I Booms? If you need us you just call and we come back.”

“Wouldn't need ya anyway, any fucker tries to get in the house and I'll like go bunta on their arse, I'm ready for a good fight.”

By the time they pulled into the driveway of the house even Bea was in stitches, if there was one thing you could always guarantee when Boomer was around you would laugh. When they were walking to the front door Boomer pointed out that Adam had to stay until Gary got back with Allie, they had come in one car and that was parked on the road in front of the house, Adam said he was going to check around outside, before he went in with them, he'd seen the house from the front but if they were needed after dark he needed to get the full layout of the house and garden.

“You making yourself a new friend there Booms?” Bea asked as they walked into the kitchen.

“Na, he's ok, but David is funnier and smarter I think.”

“Oh so it's David you like, you know he'll be in the office tomorrow afternoon and on Wednesday.”

“Yer….well it's not like I like him or nuffin, I just think he's funny, ya know and when ya ask him sumthin he doesn't laugh at me or look at me like I'm dumb, he explains things proper.”

“Oh…..so your saying me and Franky don't?”

“Uh uh, but I've know you for like forever.”

When Allie arrived home she was in a bit of a huff, Shane had spilt not only one pint down her but two because he hadn't been paying attention and her clothes were still damp. She stomped off upstairs to go for a shower leaving Boomer laughing at her, that just made her even grumpier. Once Adam and Gary had left Boomer locked the door before going to the kitchen to help Bea with dinner, after five minutes of Boomer getting in the way Bea made her sit down grumbling something about her being like a little kid. When Allie finally walked in to the kitchen her mood had changed completely, walking up behind Bea she wrapped her arms round her waist and rested her chin on her shoulder,

“Sorry about before, I just could have willingly killed Shane, there were some girls in the bar and he was paying more attention of them than what he was doing, I ended up with a beer bath. I mean I've heard of beer shampoo but I really don't recommend it to bathe in.”

“Well yer, I could smell that when you walked through the door before you even mentioned it. Apart from that was everything else ok?”

“Yer, except Will had me in the office doing paperwork half the day, I'm sure he's been saving it up for me, and he kept the side door locked all day.”

“Hey he's just looking out for you, you can't blame him for that.”

As they sat down to dinner not even the officers sat out in their car outside the house saw a man approaching, he'd scoped out their address earlier in the day and now he wanted to watch as the day wore on, he needed to know their exact routines, maybe they would just stay in but he always knew every aspect of a marks life, some he'd had chance to study for weeks and he'd know every detail of their lives right down to what toothpaste they used, but he didn't have the time for that this time. Bea Smith had a target on her back and the countdown had begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If today has been anything to go by tomorrow will be the same so you may get another chapter, well that's the plan anyway.


	112. Chapter 112

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bea disappears, can she be found in time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having nothing better or more interesting to do really is making me concentrate on writing more, have to do something though don't I?

The morning was dragging for Bea, she really wanted to go out for lunch but having been told that today would be the day that someone would be coming for Allie Adam had put his foot down and told her that there was no way he was letting her leave the office at lunch time. She tried to argue that it was Allie they were after not her but he reminded her that Vinnie Holt wanted her as well, Bea wanted to cry as her rage filled her whole body. Bea could feel her temperature rise as she glared back at Adam,

“How dare you try and tell me what to do!” She spat.

Adam looked her straight in the eye before he started to laugh which only added fuel to her anger.

“You think this is funny, you're treating me like a child and all you can is laugh?”

Bea continued shouting at him, expelling the violence of her words into the air, Adam knew that to get Bea to let her anger at the whole situation out he just needed to stand there and allow her to continue, to take the full force of her verbal onslaught. She didn't just raise her voice, her muscles tensed and she got right up close to Adam for maximum impact but nothing she did got him to bite back. It was easy to see that behind her shouting there was a pain behind it. Adam watched her, watched her eyes, then he saw it, her anger was nothing more than a shield for her fear and pain, like a cornered soldier randomly throwing out grenades, she was scared for Allie, scared for herself, he watched on as she started to calm down and her breathing slowed to its normal rate. She looked around the room at everyone before hanging her head and walking back to her office, slamming the door behind her.

“Shouldn't someone go and talk to her?” Adam asked Franky.

“Not a great idea right now, leave her for half an hour, she'll probably come out and apologise.”

Adam nodded his head before returning to look out of the window. He couldn't possibly see where Martin was standing, after he spent the whole night outside watching Beas house he'd gone straight over to the office to carry on his surveillance there, as the morning wore on he got lost in his own thoughts and memories. Drifting back to a time when he had been a young soldier, standing stiffly in his starched and pressed uniform on the parade ground, he loved being in uniform, it marked him out as a fighter, a protector, a defender. He barely could recognise himself now, he was no longer that young man, now he was just a killer. His shoulders were no longer those of his youth, he had learnt so much in the early days of his army career, how to shave properly, how to iron clothes, shine his boots until he could see his own reflection in them. He had learnt how to run for hours through mud, over rocks and through rivers, he had learnt how to get along with everyone in his troop both male and female and importantly how to take orders. He became independent almost as soon as he was away from home and his mother, he became an excellent marksman and later trained as a sniper and then he really learnt to kill when he was first sent to Iraq, he learnt quickly what it felt like to take a life in the line of duty. He wanted to be seen as a hero and a patriot, to serve his country with courage, he thought of himself as everything his country should be proud of. When he had been sent home because he had been badly injured he struggled, he knew he was suffering with PTSD when he started waking up in the night screaming in terror and sweating profusely. He pretended everything was fine and was eventually deemed fit for active duty once more the next time being deployed to Afghanistan. He was slightly shorter than the others in his unit but he was very muscular, he could run faster and for longer than anyone else in his unit, assemble his weapon in less than 30 seconds whether it was day or night, he was the soldier that everyone wanted by their side when the fighting began, he would always have your back when you were backed into a corner and everything turned to shit. He wasn't a talker though, no one ever tried to confide in him, he didn't want to know, would never listen to anyone talk about their loneliness, fear or heartache. He had himself in check, kept his feelings and emotions under control, he always came across so cold and indifferent to the feelings of the others around him, for him, it was the only way he knew how to protect himself and stop himself from falling apart. ‘War’ he thought was just a three letter word with the power behind it to obliterate everything it came into contact with. War tears people apart, turns some good people into monsters, and can drive people insane. Even when he was in the safest of places in a combat zone he would constantly look over his shoulder. He knew things that most people didn't know, he knew that wars are fought everyday in some of the most unimaginable places, when they break out hey strike hard and fast and always in places where most people felt the most secure, they take away your strength and make your vulnerabilities shine through as bright as the sun and worst of all they tear the innocent victims apart.

As he carried on watching he saw Franky, Boomer and Liz leave the office as he watched them walking away he saw one of the police officers that were watching the office get out of the car and follow them, the officer who had stayed behind was paying no attention to his surroundings at all. Martin stubbed out his cigarette on the pavement, taking one last look to see that everyone who had left the office were now far enough away for him to make his move. Crossing the street he walked up on the unmarked police car, the window wide open, its sole occupant looking at something on his phone, he had to work fast, reaching into the car he grabbed the mans throat with the webbing of his thumb and index finger against his windpipe at the base of his throat pushing his windpipe to his fingers with his thumb making it hard for him to breath, the lack of oxygen soon rendering him unconscious. He had been surprised that no one had noticed the black van that he parked close to the front of the office early that morning, but not one of them had paid it any attention. Silently he moved to the window seeing Adam with his back to the door, that was it, just one guy, ‘easy as taking candy from a baby,’ he thought to himself. Opening the door quickly and quietly he moved in behind Adam without a sound in one smooth action he reached around him with his left arm fitting his windpipe snugly in the crook of his arm placing his left had in the inside crook of his right elbow and pushed Adams head down with his right hand, making the carotid arteries on the side of his neck close as he squeezed his arms making Adam pass out, releasing his hold on his now unconscious victim he lay him on the floor instantly recognising him as a member of his old squad, he had no time for sentimentality and he walked straight to Beas still closed office door flinging it open and taking her by surprise. As she looked up from what ever she was looking at she had been expecting it to be Boomer or Adam but it was neither and the shock quickly registered on her face, jumping up from her chair she had no time to think as the guy ran at her punching her fast and hard in the side of her head causing it to snap to the side making her brain hit the side of her skull triggering a blackout.

Catching her before she fell to the floor her threw Bea over his shoulder and made his way to the front of the office, scanning the surroundings from the window he saw no one, and walked straight out of the door opening the back door of the van he threw her in before driving away, there was no need to hang around she would be out for a couple of minutes at least he just needed to get away from there before he secured his victim. He drove the half a mile he needed to get to some disused garages before pulled in and returned to the back of the van, securing Beas hands with a set of handcuffs and tying her ankles together before gagging her, he'd been led to believe that Bea would have put up more of a fight and he had been ready for that but he was too quick, she didn't stand a chance.

Franky, Boomer and Liz were surprised to see the office door ajar as they approached, assuming that Adam had left it open the second they entered finding Adam still out cold and Beas office door open with no sight of her Liz began to panic.

“Booms, get ya ass outside to the cops, tell them Beas gone.”

Franky turned to Liz telling her to sit down before turning her attention to Adam who was just starting to stir.

“What the fuck happened? Where's Bea?” Franky almost screamed at him.

Sitting up and running his fingers through his hair Adam tried to remember what had happened.

“I don't know, I was going to get a coffee and take one to Bea……and…..I don't know!”

“The fuck ya don't know, ex special forces my ass.” Franky spat at him as Boomer walked back in.

“Franky we got a problem, one of the cops went to get lunch and the other was out cold when he got back.”

“Ahhhh, fuck……gotta call Ayoub, Booms where's my fucking phone?”

“I dunno, in ya pocket?”

Eventually locating which pocket her phone was in she placed a call to Detective Ayoub trying to explain what had happened,

“Don't ya get it, Beas gone, ya need to get over here now……I don't know what happened I wasn't here.” She screamed down the phone before hanging up mumbling about fucking useless cops.

“Should I check the CCTV Franky love?” Liz asked quietly.

“What?…..errrr, yer…..you do that Liz, I…I…fuck, should I call Allie?”

“No love, wait till the police get here.”

“The fucking cops were meant to be right outside Liz,” Franky protested. “Ahhh, blondies gunna kill me…..I should have kept her safe…..”

Liz sat at her desk bringing up the footage from the last hour she scanned through it, everything was as it should be for the first 15 or so minutes, she watched as her, Franky and Boomer left the office and walked off in the direction of the deli, she scanned the screen noticing one of the officers get out of the car and walk in the same direction that they had all walked off in. Looking a little more closely she saw a man approaching the car, she watched on as he lent into the car before turning and walking to the office.

“Franky love I think you need to see this.”

Franky stood behind Liz her eyes on the screen as they saw a man look through the window before he entered the office.

“Fucking told Red we needed cameras in here didn't I? But we all know her, wouldn't listen and now look what's happened, don't care what she says, as soon as we get her back I'm getting em installed.”

Continuing to watch the screen they saw the same man leaving the office with Bea slung over his shoulder, they could just see a small portion of the van in the corner of the screen and they guessed that had to be where he took her, as it drove off Franky told Liz to pause it trying to look at the number plate but she couldn't quite make it all out. Detectives Ayoub and Kaplan walked into the office with Paul,

“What have we got? Did you get anything on the CCTV?”

  
“Take a look for yaself, don't recognise the guy, but he's taken Bea and ya better get all over this now.”

Liz showed them the footage as Detective Ayoub and Paul went white recognising Martin Sharp immediately. Adam noticed the looks on their faces and wanted to know what was wrong, Paul pulled out a picture from his jacket pocket and showed it to Adam a look of shock washed over his face.

“You know him?” Paul questioned.

“Yer….yer, that's Martin, he was in our squad, we were all in the 2nd commando regiment…..he left two years before me and Gary did, he changed after Afghanistan, guess it was PTSD, but…..no, he wouldn't….you sure?”

Detective Ayoub gestured for him to look at the image on the screen, there was no doubt about it, it was Martin.

“This is my fault…..I should have been paying more attention, fuck, you just…..ya don't expect it, shit that's why I got taken down so easily, shouldn't have let my guard down.”

“Ya think!” Boomer threw back at him.

David walked in no idea what was going on, looking at all their faces he knew something serious had happened.

———————————————

As Martin pulled into the disused warehouse he was still surprised that Bea hadn't put up more of a fight, he'd actually been expecting hell, it was what he deserved after all, hadn't he earned the right for someone to make it at least a fight? Most of his marks were taken out before anyone even knew what was happening, he'd killed so many people, each one such a deliciously sweet rush, almost always being able to watch from a distance as the blood ran from his victims body until their skin turned ghostly white, watching the aftermath always filled him with such an exquisite pleasure. He was good at what he did, everyone knew that, he had his pick of jobs, everyone wanted him to work for them, he'd traveled all over the world, he laughed to himself when the thought occurred to him that he had selected his marks the same way other people selected their favourite chocolates. He could have done anything when he left the army, joined the police, security work but no none of that was what he wanted to do, the taste of the kill was what he needed, what he had grown to love, causing others pain and emotional distress was something he thrived on. He didn't play by the same rule book as the rest of society, he lived by his own rules so he always won with ease, he no longer had any morals, no restraints, he was a wolf and everyone around him were the sheep. After removing Bea from the van he took her inside just as she was starting to regain consciousness. Sitting her down in a chair that he had already set up he looked down on her, under different circumstances he would have thought nothing about trying his luck with a woman like this but he couldn't think like that, she was marked for death and he had taken the job, not that he ever really argued with Vinnie Holt.

“You really should have been more careful about who you crossed you know, Vinnie doesn't like to be crossed. But you don't need to worry your pretty little head about that now do you? I know what you're thinking….that someone will come for you, rescue you.”

Martin walked a short distance from her before turning and looking at her in the eye this time.

“Don't worry though, that pretty little blond slut of yours will be joining you really soon then you really can be together forever. You'd like that wouldn't you? To never be separated from her, I'd ask you what you saw in her but I already know the answer, she's pretty hot for a prostitute, hit a nerve there have I? You could never have changed her you know, inside she's still the same, a whore, she'd leave you eventually to go back to the drugs and getting fucked for money.”

Martin could see the pain in her eyes as he spoke and he knew that if she could she would be trying to kick his ass, the most she could do was to just look at him. She was getting mad and all she could think about was Allie, she couldn't protect her now, and what about Debbie, who would be there for her? She looked around trying to think of some way she could get out of this but she had no idea where she was, she knew she still had her phone in her pocket but there was no way she could get to it, if only she could hear Allies voice one more time, so many times she had thought she was going to die at the hands of Harry and she had made it through every beating, now she was finally happy and it was going to end like this. The tears welled up in the corner of her eyes, she tried to stifle the sobs that still managed to escape her even though she was gagged, she didn't want him to see her like this, she was tough, if this was how it was going to end she wasn't going to let him see that she was upset. When Allies face appeared in her head, her voice ringing in her ears she was overcome by waves of emotion and she started to break down entirely, all her defences being washed away by her salty tears. She couldn't stop it and she broke down, her sobs punching through, ripping through every muscle and every bone in her body. Closing her eyes Allies voice was replaced by Harry's, even though she hadn't seen him in so long had no contact, and even though he was now dead she still heard his voice, the things he would say to her. He hurt her on purpose with his words and his fists, if one of his friends came to the house right after a fight she remembered that refined look of innocence that washed over his face, he pulled the wool over everyone's eyes for so many years, making people feel sorry for him by telling his tall tales of past trauma and victimhood, the majority of which never happened at all. Bea was his leading lady in all of his dramas both inside and outside the house, she had spotted his repetition so many times, bad day at work smack, argument with the boss a well aimed kick in the guts, his favourite team lost a game another punch, but no more he was gone from her life yet he still lived deep inside her head. Still able to haunt her in ways that she could never explain, never shake off. She had once given him her heart and he made it feel worthless, Allie had changed that though, she'd shown her that her heart was priceless. ‘Allie’ she thought as she opened her eyes.

Looking across again at Martin from the look on his face she knew what was coming and she tensed her muscles as much as she possibly could, she knew that never softened the blow but it was natural to her now. Seeing the bat he picked up it would be as hard as it looked and not one part of her body was a ball, she felt the bone split in her leg into an untold number of fragments as it hit and her mind began to shut down, become inoperable to try and deaden the pain. She couldn't think about it, it was the only way she knew how to react, let the pain take her somewhere deep inside herself, back to some primitive place that knows how to deal with that kind of pain, she knew this wasn't going to end, not well at least. Her vision became blotchy, strewn with vibrant colours that moved and merged without pattern or design, the wall of pain was still crippling but as she tried to concentrate on anything but that pain in her leg Allies face came swimming back into view, looking just as she remembered her from earlier in the day, she couldn't, wouldn't let go of that, if all that was waiting for her was more pain she would hold on to that beautiful face for a little longer.

———————————————

Back at the office Liz was pacing the floor with Boomer, Franky, Paul and Adam had long since gone to the police station in the hopes that someone was going to work out where Bea was and how they were going to get her out. David had gone to the bar with Detective Kaplan to take Allie home, she had insisted that she wanted to be at the police station so she was there when they found out what was going on but Will and Linda had managed to persuade her that she was better off at home where everyone knew how to contact her. Will had insisted on going with her, she couldn't drive and Will knew she wouldn't want her car leaving outside the bar, she'd tried to argue but Shane had managed to get her to see a little sense, and after promising that he and Linda would be over as soon as their shifts ended she gave in and let Will drive her home. The second she walked into the house she almost collapsed, she didn't want to be there without Bea, what if she never came home again. She stood with Wills arms holding her up on the very brink of something she could not describe, the weight of everything seemed to press down on her shoulders and it was a struggle to take even one single tiny step forward. It was too much, all of it was too much but she had to keep on moving forwards, every step felt like it cost her a tiny piece of her soul. Finally sitting her down on the sofa Will went to the kitchen to get her some water, she just sat there feeling like there was a darkness surrounding her that was only growing darker, the pain growing sharper, she couldn't believe that things could ever be this bad. Will put a bottle of water down on the coffee table in front of her just as she stood up,

“Debbie………..Will I've got to call Debbie.”

“Ok, ok, listen just sit down and we'll call her, come on.”

She sat down getting her phone from her bag, she could hardly keep hold of it her hands were shaking so much, she looked at Will,

“I….I can't do it……can you find her number for me?”

Will nodded and took the phone from her hands, quickly finding Debbie's number he hit call as she answered he put it on speaker.

“Allie….Allie? What's wrong?”

“Debs, your mum, she's ……..”

She could hardly speak as the tears began streaming down her face, will put his arm round her trying to reassure her as he continued speaking with Debbie, he told her all that any of them knew, Debbie couldn't believe what she was hearing and as concerned as she was about her mum she could still hear Allie crying in the background, she told Will that she was going to get on the next available flight home and to tell Allie that she would be there as soon as she could.

Over at the police station Adam and Gary were trying to be as helpful as they possibly could, scanning a map of the area around the office they tried to put themselves in Martins position, where would they go, the police were adamant that he would take Bea further away but they were convinced that they were looking for somewhere more local, they focused straight away on an area about 3 miles away from the office, Kaplan tried shutting that idea down as soon as they had brought it up when an officer came back saying that the last time the van had been seen it was just before an old disused industrial area.

“He'd take her to a warehouse, less chance of being seen and there are only two in the area.”

“Yer and you know this how? You in on it?”

“We were in his squad, he was a little strange then, but we do know how he would work, never been in the army have you, much less a special forces squad, trust me that's where we need to look.”

Detective Ayoub returned to the room with Franky right before Kaplan was about to shut Adam down, she wanted to hear what he had to say and sent Kaplan to do something else.

“And you're sure about this?”

“As sure as I can be, it's what we'd do though, I mean not that we'd ever go round trying to kill people.”

"it's all we've got, Franky tried her mobile and it must be switched off so there's no way to trace it."

Thirty minutes later they had gathered teams of firearms officers ready to brief them.

———————————————

Bea could think of nothing other than Allie in the minutes that followed, her eyes followed Martin as he moved around, crouching down almost right next to her he pulled something out of a backpack he had picked up, laying out something on the floor that Bea actually couldn't see properly, Martin ran his hands over his cold metal tools deciding what he wanted to use next. Picking up a scalpel his eyes popped out a little wider as he licked his lips.

“You know it's been a long time since I've done this, usually it's just a quick bullet to the head, you must be really special, Vinnie never asks for this special treatment.”

Martin turned to walk behind the chair Bea was sat on and ran his fingers over her arms that only hours earlier had been holding Allie close to her, he drew the blade down each arm, he wanted her to bleed before he let her feel what real pain was. Walking away he carried on talking, she closed her eyes trying to block him out, she didn't care what he was going to by now, she wanted it over with, she felt the bat that he'd used earlier hit her in the abdomen the pain shot through her body, deep and warm, it felt like someone had their hand inside her her squeezing her organs as hard as they could. As the pain subsided a little she was able to move a little but as soon as she did the pain returned all she could do was sit still and concentrate on breathing, slow and deep until it passed again. She knew there would be no blood on the outside of her body, internal bleeding would no doubt be an issue, but the bruises would come all too soon deep and purple, but why should she worry about that he wasn't going to let her live long enough to see the damage. If it wasn't for her mind constantly drifting to Allie she would have already given up and waited to die but she wasn't going to let go so easily, she'd said she'd see her later and she was going to at least try to do that. The bat hit her in the head but not as hard as she had expected, she heard him take a few steps back expecting the next whack would be so much harder, holding her breath she waited. Then she heard it, one gunshot cracked into the air as loud as any thunder as she said Allies name over and over in her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger I know, but don't shout at me, I had to end this chapter somewhere and that seemed to be the most appropriate place to finish, I could have carried on writing but this chapter has run into almost 5000 words already. As long as I carry on writing this way at least you know you won't have long to wait for chapter 113.


	113. Chapter 113

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I promised I wouldn't leave you all in suspense for too long.

_Then she heard it, one gunshot cracked into the air as loud as any thunder as she said Allies name over and over in her head._

 

 

  
Adam and Gary had been in the army long enough to know a lone gunshot when they heard one. From the loudness of the shot Adam estimated that the shot had been fired from less than five hundred metres away. The silence that returned after that shot had been fired was thicker than before, it felt as if everything around them, whether human or not, was collectively holding its breath. Adam started sweating as the flashbacks of Afghanistan invaded his thoughts and he fought them back with everything he had so that he could remain alert and focused, ‘not the time for PTSD to kick in,’ he muttered under his breath.

Franky had managed somehow to convince Detective Ayoub to let them go with them to the warehouses, she wasn't happy that they'd been made to stand behind the police cordon, but as the armed police swarmed round the two buildings in front of them she had to admit that they probably were safer where they were. When the shot rang out it hadn't quite registered in her brain what it was at first, gunshots in movies are two a penny, each shot in the movies only ever increase your adrenaline marginally and in the real world they sound completely different. That shot was so loud as it cracked into the air and echoed around the empty buildings, magnifying the sound and increasing the adrenaline flowing through her body like a hypodermic straight to the heart. Almost as soon as the shot had sounded the silent police radios cranked back into life, hearing an armed response officer calling a code 1, Franky looked at one of the officers who proceeded to tell her that it was a call for the ambulance crews who were on standby,

“So what's that mean it's urgent?”

The officer looked at her and smiled as two ambulances were allowed through the cordon lights and sirens on. Franky had a bad feeling now and wanted more than anything to make a run for it and find Bea but all that would end in would be her getting arrested and that would do no one any good. Her phone ringing brought her out of those thoughts, fishing in her pocket for it she saw Debbie's name, ‘shit,’ she said under her breath as she answered.

“Franky, just listen, I'll be boarding a flight home in about 30 minutes can someone pick me up?”

“Yer, course, I'll ask Gidge, hey how do you know ya need to get home, sorry….i should have called but I've been so caught up.”

“Allie….well, Will really she wasn't in any state to speak to me…..is there any news yet?”

“Not yet, listen I gotta go, I'll send ya a message as soon as I know something, and I'll make sure Gidge has all the info for ya yer?”

“Thanks Franky, and Franky….bring her home……”

She hated not knowing anything, but all they'd heard was a shot being fired and nothing since, except for the ambulances, she couldn't tell Debbie that when she was so far away, and Bea could still be alive, no one had said she wasn't yet. Seeing Detective Ayoub walking towards her she wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened up ready to hear whatever news was to come.

———————————————

As Bea heard that shot ring out all the breath left her body, a few seconds later she realized that she was still alive as she began gasping for air like a fish out of water. Taking her first deep breath she felt a sharp pain erupt through her chest and abdomen, she was a little confused and took another deep breath, this time she couldn't hold back the scream that accompanied the searing pain that ripped through her, even with the gag still in her mouth she was surprised to hear her own voice. She knew by now that her skin would have erupted with the growing purple blooms that were bruises, every slight movement she made hurt. With Harry she'd always healed from her own stubborn wilfulness, she had always been determined to survive for Debbie come what may. All she could hear was her own heartbeat through the silence that now surrounded her and she had to think about the future, she had to survive now, not only for Debbie but for Allie as well, in the silence she wondered what would happen if no one knew where she was, she had used her last reserves of energy and she knew she was battered on the inside worse than any broken bone. Her senses were now sharpened, she heard movement from behind her as the adrenaline kicked in and she held her breath. As armed police came into her line of sight she felt relief wash over her, she hadn't looked up until she saw them and as she did she saw the body of her torturer laying a few metres away. Looking at him she guessed he must have been dead before the sound of the gunshot reached her ears, a sound that had heralded death but not for her as the plan had been.

Two officers approached her, one removed the gag from her mouth,

“Bea Smith?”

She just nodded as the words became lodged in her throat. One of the officers untied her feet but struggled with the removal of the handcuffs, she'd already lost a lot of blood from the cuts he had made on her arms and she could feel it running right to the tips of her fingers, she was tired but determined not to fall asleep, she had survived this long she couldn't give up now when she was so close to getting out of there, not without injury but alive at least. She could have cursed the man laying on the ground a few metres away, the pain he had inflicted upon her she could deal with, would deal with for the sake of the people she cared for most and eventually it would subside but the scars he now left her with, those scars will last forever. She heard one of the armed officers talking to another as they stood near the body, hearing remarks about it being a clean shot. Trying to focus on that body a little more and mainly his head she could make out the small entry wound, she could only imagine that the exit wound would be a gaping mess. Bea heard sirens wailing like a baby in distress as the officers kept talking to her, she was fighting to keep her eyes open, the whole day was a blur, trying to remember how she even ended up there was blank, she could remember sitting in her office, ‘what was I doing?’ She wondered to herself before everything went black.

Detective Ayoub lead Franky over to one of the warehouses,

“The paramedics will be bringing Bea out soon, she's battered and bleeding but still alive.”

“And the fucker who did this to her?”

“Dead!” She abruptly stated.

“Can I see her?”

“As soon as they load her into the ambulance I think you should go with her, she's going to need someone who she knows.”

“Can I just have a second? I've gotta make a couple of calls.”

The detective walked back to the warehouse to check on the Bea leaving Franky to make her calls, calling Allie made her more nervous, Franky felt guilty enough for having gone out to get lunch, she'd been beating herself up since they got back to the office. Placing the call she was taken a back when Will answered.

“Franky, any news?”

“Will? Ummm, yer where's Allie?”

“Right here, sorry one sec……..go on Franky you're on speaker.”

“Allie she's alive, they're gonna be bringing her out real soon.”

Through the sobs Franky couldn't make out a single word Allie said, seeing the paramedics bringing Bea out of the building she moved as fast as her legs would let her, not wanting to distract the paramedics she grabbed the detective by the arm,

“Which hospital?”

Detective Ayoub looked at her before telling her they would be taking her to The Royal. Franky quickly told whoever was still listening on the line where they were going and that she was going with Bea before hanging up. Everything seems as if it were happening in slow motion as she watched the paramedics loading Bea into the back of the ambulance.

“You're coming with her is that right?” The female paramedic asked Franky who could only nod her response.

Climbing into the ambulance with her best friend Franky felt lost, she'd done this before so many times, each time wondering if she was going to lose her, sitting there she reached out her hand taking Beas in hers before turning to the paramedic,

“Can she hear me? Is it ok if I talk to her?”

“She can, she's been in and out of consciousness since we got to her, she asked for Allie a couple of times, do you know who that is?”

Franky nodded as tears sprang to her eyes once more, she tried to blink them away before she spoke.

“Hey Red, come on stop playing silly buggers and open ya eyes yer……..I'm here, Allies on her way and so is Deb, ya can't leave them right…..ya can't leave me, what would I do without my best friend?”

Beas eyes fluttered open the second she heard Franky say Allies name, trying to focus on Franky was difficult and at first she didn't actually recognise her.

“Franky….is that you?”

“Yer, yer it's me Red, ya gonna be ok ya hear me, ya gotta be ok.”

Bea closed her eyes again as Franky kept on talking, she chatted away to her for a few minutes before Bea opened her eyes again.

“Allie…..where's Allie? Tell me she alright Franky.”

“Allies fine, worried about you but she's fine, Will took her home, he's gonna bring her to the hospital, shit Red everyone is worried about ya.”

  
The ride to the hospital was more terrifying than any other Bea had ever experienced, more terrifying than any beating that she had ever received. She knew her job could be dangerous, it took her to some pretty dark places and she'd met plenty of unsavoury characters but never for a second had she ever thought that it would get her almost killed but then she'd never expected it to lead her to Allie either. As they sped away from the warehouses Bea felt every bump that the ambulance hit making her anxiety peak higher. Franky kept talking, trying to think of anything that would keep Bea calm.

The flashing lights and the sirens of the ambulance easily parted the cars, its mere presence signifying the misfortune of who ever was inside, the sight of an ambulance passing by like that can be the cause of so many people to stop and pray regardless of religion. Screeching tires, keen wailing of the siren and mad flashing lights barrelled through the streets of Melbourne with the hopes of saving one more life and today that life was Beas. The paramedics quickly parked in an ambulance bay outside the emergency department of the hospital hurrying to get Bea out, they rushed through the double doors, the wheels of the stretcher and their pounding footsteps as they hit the floor were the only thing that Franky could hear as she rushed to keep up with them. As Bea was wheeled away from her view Franky's heart sank, as a nurse approached her asking her to follow her as she lead Franky to a waiting room,

“Why can't I stay with her?” Franky asked as her mind filled once more with a procession of every horrible outcome, each one getting a little worse than the last.

“I'm sorry, you have to understand we need to do our jobs and attend to Beas injuries, someone will be with you as soon as we have any news.” With that she turned on her heels and left leaving Franky completely alone.

Slumping back into one of the chairs she suddenly realized that she hadn't sent Debbie a text, grabbing her phone she sent her a quick text letting her know that she was at the hospital. She made a few more calls firstly to Bridget who knew nothing about the events of the day as Franky had been so busy she'd forgotten to let her know. Bridget had been more than happy to pick Debbie up and bring her straight to the hospital. After calling Liz she had said that her and Boomer would be over as soon as they locked the office up. Franky sat in silence for what felt like forever when the door burst open and Allie rushed in,

“Where's Bea? Franky I need to see her.”

Franky got to her feet straight away wrapping her up in a hug,

“She's ok, she's with the doctors.”

“Why can't I see her?”

“Come on sit down…..listen I'm not gonna lie to you, she's hurt, and I have no idea how bad her injuries really are, but she was talking to me….and she can't wait to see you.”

Allie rested her head on Franky shoulder as she cried, she had so many things running through her head and none of them good, Will and Shane quickly appeared and sat down not knowing what to say, they both just wanted to be there to support Allie, Will knew that Allie was blaming herself for everything that had happened and no amount of trying to convince her that it wasn't had just fallen on deaf ears. Liz and Boomer arrived a little later with Maxine, no one actually sure what they could say to make Allie feel any better.

Bea lay in a curtained cubical looking at the ceiling, she was uncomfortable and couldn't move a great deal so there was very little else to look at. She could hear moans and groans coming from all around her and that made her glad that there were curtains around her, she didn't want to engage in any kind of small talk with anyone, all she wanted was for them to patch her up and send her home although judging by the pain she was still experiencing that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. Already she'd had X rays, the cuts to her arms had been cleaned and stitched, to her relief they weren't as bad as she thought they might be, and she'd been poked and prodded enough to last her the rest of her life, when a doctor appeared she closed her eyes preparing herself for the worst.

“Ms Smith, I have some good news and some bad news.”

“It's Bea, just call me Bea…..I want to see Allie.”

“I'm afraid you really can't have any visitors right now, we have to…”

“Then I don't care, I'm going home, if I can't see Allie I'm not staying.”

“Ms……Bea, you can't leave, your leg….”

“Then make yourself useful and find Allie, I know she'll be here, I need her here.”

The doctor shook his head and left the cubical returning a little later with both Allie and Franky, Allie wanted to be by Beas side more than anything but had refused to go anywhere without Franky.

Allie rushed to her side the second she saw her laying there, “I was so scared even when Franky said you were talking.”

“I know but I'll be fine, I've had worse and I'm still here.”

“Stop playing it down, your in pain, you forget you can't hide what you're feeling from me, Debbie….I…I called her, she's on her way home…..you're not mad at me for calling her are you?” A single tear rolled from her eye as the thought of getting that wrong upset her even more.

“No, I'm not mad at you, how could I be?” Bea tried to reassure her as she raised her hand to wipe the tear from her cheek causing her to flinch a little.

“You shouldn't move too much babe, you just hurt yourself.”

The doctor reappeared looking between Bea and Allie who didn't even seem to register his presence until he spoke.

“Would now be a good time to speak with you, we really need to get you into surgery.”

Allies eyes went wide when she heard that, as she looked at Bea she knew that she had made the doctor fetch her instead of getting the medical treatment that she needed. Beas eyes were feeling heavy and she really didn't want to listen to anything the doctor had to say, she just wanted to go to sleep with Allie by her side, she would give anything to just go back to that morning when they were laying in bed together, if she could have known how the day would end she wouldn't have got out of bed. The doctor carried on speaking informing them that Bea needed surgery on her leg as her tibia and fibula had been broken in several places and that surgery was the only option to repair the damage, she had been lucky that her ribs were only fractured and that she had a lot of internal bruising along with the obvious exterior bruising, the damage to her head and face was mainly just a few cuts and bruises. As the doctor carried on speaking neither Allie or Franky were paying much attention to him as they were looking at each other and at Bea who had fallen asleep, after the doctor left them for a few more minutes neither of them spoke, Franky placed her hand on Allies shoulder and gave it a light squeeze trying to reassure her that everything was going to be alright.

Bridget arrived at the airport thirty minutes before Debbie's plane was due to land, she wanted to be there in plenty of time and she called Franky for another update on Beas condition, after being told that she was on her way down to surgery and filling her in on what the doctor had told them she ended the call with five minutes to spare.

45 minutes later a distraught Debbie ran into the waiting room searching for Allie who was being comforted by both Liz and Maxine, Debbie raced over to her pulling her up from the chair and pulling her into a hug, it didn't register with Allie who it was at first until Debbie asked her if she was ok. Pulling away slightly they both had tears in their eyes.

“I'm so sorry Deb, it's all my fault.”

“It isn't, and don't you let mum hear you talking like that, she knows her job comes with risks she's not stupid, how were either of you to know that some asshole would come after either of you?”

“I bet you wish she'd left me where she found me.”

“I've never wished that and I never will, although I could have banged both your heads together in the beginning.”

“Thanks Deb that makes me feel a whole lot better,” Allie giggled a little.

Everyone else in the room had left leaving them to talk in private, sitting next to each other Allie tried the best she could to explain what had led them to this point, bursting into tears when she tried to tell her about Derek Channing wanting her dead and not her mum.

“I'm surprised mum even let you out of her sight if she though you were in any danger.”

Allie was about to answer when the doctor walked into the waiting room looking straight at Allie,

“Is she ok?” Allie asked as she stood up.

“It took longer than expected, the damage to her leg was a little more extensive than had shown on the X ray but we're confident that she should still have full use of it once she's healed and had some intensive physiotherapy, she does have fractured ribs as I told you earlier, and she has a mild concussion everything else as far as we can tell is just severe bruising, but she is going to have to stay in hospital for a while.

“Can we see her now?” Debbie almost pleaded.

The doctor looked at Allie,

“You can tell her she's her daughter,” Allie snapped a little, she was frustrated with no one wanting to tell anyone anything.

“My apologies, I should have guessed you look like your mum, she's just being moved to a room now, I will warn you she will want to sleep a lot but I see no need in keeping you apart from her for any longer, if you'd like to follow me I'll take you up there.”

Debbie and Allie followed the doctor to the lifts Franky calling out to them that they'd all be waiting in the waiting room until they'd seen her, Allie forced a smile and got into the lift. Arriving on the third floor they followed the doctor to the door,

“I'll let you have a few minutes alone with her, I'll be back in a while.”

Walking into the room they both took a seat at each side of the bed, Bea had heard someone come in but thinking that it was just another nurse she had kept her eyes closed not wanting to talk to anyone if it wasn't anyone she knew. Allie took her hand in hers and Beas eyes shot open,

“Allie…..can I go home now?”

“No mum you cant you're going to stay here until your fit enough.”

Turning her head to the side she saw Debbie sat there smiling at her,

“Sweetheart you didn't have to rush all this way for me.”

“Ya think? Have you ever tried talking to Allie when she's upset, if it hadn't been for Will I would never have known what she was trying to tell me, and I do need to be here, for both of you.”

Bea settled herself more comfortably back in the bed and was soon asleep, Debbie excused herself for a few minutes saying she wanted to call Franky and give her an update on how Bea was doing. Allie looked around the hospital room Bea was currently laying in, it would be completely devoid of any beauty if Bea had not been in it, the walls were cream, no sign of peeling paint or dirt, they were just cream and there was no sign of any other decoration in the room except the limp curtains that hung at the window. The doctor returned a few moments later to check on Bea, noticing their joined hands the second he was through the door, he smiled at Allie as he checked her chart before leaving. When Debbie popped her head round the door she whispered to Allie that she was going to fetch Franky,

“Bridget says she getting on her nerves and is refusing to go home unless she sees her.”

Allie nodded at her and turned her attention back to Bea who was still sleeping.

Walking up the hallway Franky thought that it had as much personality as the rest of the hospital, the floor was slate grey and the walls where white, above the ceiling was made from polystyrene squares laid on a grid like frame, something Franky thought she'd never see again anywhere. The lights seemed too bright after the gloomy waiting room, it was enough to give anyone a headache, there were some commercial prints on the wall, dull but tasteful. It certainly wasn't run by anyone who was a risk taker, above every door that they passed was a large plastic sign, dark in colour with bold white lettering all in capitals. It was spotless that was for sure, so clean that it could have been beamed in from someplace that dirt had been outlawed.

Franky's head appeared round the door looking straight at Allie and smiling before her eyes wondered over to the bed, Debbie gave her a slight shove and she almost fell through the door, the sound of Debbie laughing woke Bea up. Franky made her way over to the bed and stood beside Allie,

“Well you look like shit Red.”

“Oh gee Franky, thanks for that, I feel so much better now.”

“Seriously though how are you feeling? And don't lie to me.”

“I've been better and I've been worse, can't lie it's painful and I'm so tired but I'm still here aren't I?”

“Shouldn't have happened Red, I shouldn't have left ya, I thought ya’d be alright with Adam, shit should have just told Liz to go on her own.”

“Hey you stop that, no one is to blame ok, if it was going to happen it would have no matter who was in the office, now do me a favour take this one home and make sure she eats something.”

Allie shook her head, “I'm not going anywhere, I'm not leaving you here alone.”

“Oh she ain't alone blondie, Adam and Gary are sitting outside the door and Booms is on her way up, she's gonna be fine ya no good to Red if ya don't look after ya self, come on you and Deb come to ours, I promise I'll bring ya back first thing in the morning.”

Allie tried to protest and give Bea every reason why she should stay but she wasn't hearing any of it, telling her that all she was going to do was sleep until the morning anyway. Eventually Allie gave in after telling Bea that if she needed anything she'd better call her straight away, she agreed to that if meant she would go home and rest. Franky waited outside the door for Allie sending Debbie back in.

“You two behave at Franky's won't you?”

“Mum, I'm not five!”

“I know, but still, look after each other, and don't worry about me.”

“Ok, ok we get it mum.” Debbie said as she lent down to give her a kiss on her cheek.

“I'll give you two a couple of minutes, but behave.”

“As if we'd do anything but behave Deb, you have noticed where we are haven't ya?” Allie giggled.

Debbie walked out of the room shaking her head and laughing.

“I don't want to leave you here.”

“It's only for a few hours, you need to rest…..now come here and give me a kiss.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may need a day off from writing I think, it's been a while since I wrote so much in one week.


	114. Chapter 114

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I said I was having the day off but I found that impossible, this is a slightly shorter chapter than I would usually write but being dragged out of the house by my best mate and being made to sit outside my local is not the best place to try writing!

Bea had had a restless night, she was pissed off with being on half hourly obs, half of her wished that she'd never persuaded Allie to leave but she needed to rest although Bea suspected that she wouldn't get much sleep. At 5am she'd been tempted to call her when she'd looked over at her phone sitting there not that she'd even realized that the battery was dead, daring her to pick it up and just call so she could hear her voice, her train of thought was cut off when the nurse entered her room without ever slowing her stride. One second she had been out in the corridor, her eyes dead ahead and the next she was checking Beas pulse. She just wanted to get this over with, Bea saw no point in being kept awake most of the night just to have her pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, temperature and neurological stats taken every half hour, she felt fine and she told the nurse that each time she walked into her room. This exchange had been no different from the last, neither of them made eye contact or spoke until it was necessary. There was something about this nurse though that made Bea feel sub human, as if she no longer qualified as a person at all. She had studied this nurses face so many times through the course of the night and now it was just annoying her, she had thought a couple of hours before this most recent encounter that it compared to an apple, round and full. Her eyes were small and mean looking, bereft of any make up and she smelt mildly of detergent. Bea was just about to open her mouth to ask her a question when she rushed off, disappearing out of the door as rapidly as she had entered.

Allie had spent the better part of the night awake, Franky and Bridget had convinced her and Debbie to stay at their house even though they said they wanted to go home, Allie knew it was mainly because Franky was blaming herself for what had happened because she'd left Bea in the office. Allie lay in bed feeling empty, glancing over at the opposite side of the bed every now and again, without Bea laying next to her she felt like a tree forever stuck in winter shivering under a blanket of frost, alone her world was cold, her arms empty. Without Bea right there next to her the rest of the world was like a bad movie, she couldn't remember ever being locked in her own head this much since she had first been kicked out of her parents home, looking at the clock beside the bed it was just after 5am something told her that Bea wouldn't be sleeping and she desperately wanted to call her but didn't want to disturb her sleep, she needed to sleep she told herself.

Detective Ayoub arrived at the station early, meeting Paul and Davis in the car park, for over a year there had been a rumour throughout the station that Kaplan had links with organised crime but there had never been any proof, until now. Making their way through the quiet police station to her office she couldn't believe that the information that had been relayed to her two hours ago, waking her from a very restful sleep, was real. Stopping to get coffee before they got to her office Paul felt awful about having to wake her earlier but they had to get Kaplan distanced from the investigation, Erica needed to be moved and there were already detectives working on that, Paul had insisted that Bea be moved to a private hospital, everyone in the station knew where she was and even with a 24 hour police presence she wasn't safe when a detective could walk into her room any time of the day or night. Walking into her office they were greeted by Detective Chief Inspector Jessop waiting for them to arrive.

“Ayoub, I've been in close contact with the Sydney police throughout the night, Detective Martin your DCI speaks very highly of you and Detective Davis.”

“Thank you Sir,” Paul muttered not caring to be praised at that time, he was more concerned about Bea.

“Right so, Ms Davidson is being moved as we speak to a location outside of Melbourne, Ms Smith will be moved in around thirty minutes to St Vincent's Private Hospital, I did consider moving her out of Melbourne also but due to her family circumstances I decided against that.”

“What about security for Bea and her family?” Davis asked abruptly.

“That's all taken care of, all I need from you is to get on with your work, Ayoub I'd like to see you in my office in ten.”

The DCI left hastily leaving Davis very pissed off,

“They move fucking Erica out of the way and not Bea, that's screwed up.”

Paul looked at Davis in shock and amusement, Davis as everyone knew was not a talker and his small outburst was of the type no one back in Sydney would ever believe.

“You two know Bea and Franky quite well it would seem, who wants to inform her family of her move and who's going to go with her when she's transferred?” Ayoub questioned as she looked at the two detectives in front of her.

“Davis, you let Franky know the situation, I believe Allie and her daughter spent the night with her, I'll go to the hospital now, but what about Kaplan?”

“He's not on duty today, no doubt he will be busy though.”

“I'm going over to Franky's, I don't want to call, then I can bring Allie and her daughter over to the hospital, I was thinking though…errrr, shouldn't we put her family somewhere safe, this is bigger than we thought and they do want rid of Allie as well, her daughter could get caught up in something.”

“I'll speak to the DCI, you're right though better to be safe than sorry.”

Davis knocked loudly on Franky's door, it was just after 6am and he knew she'd be pissed but he didn't want to call, as much as he hated to admit it he liked Franky, she was good at her job and she did actually make him laugh, even though she might never have actually noticed. After a few moments he knocked again, louder this time.

“The Fuck…..Gidge did ya hear that?”

“Hard not to, someone wants our attention.”

“Fucks sake have ya seen the time? Right whoever it is is gettin a piece of my mind.”

Franky dragged herself out of bed and down the stairs ready to go ballistic at whoever had woken her up. Opening the door she was greeted by an apologetic looking Davis.

“I'm so sorry it's so early but I didn't want to be impersonal, and a phone call always is, it's about Bea…..nothing to worry about but I need to see Allie and her daughter.”

“Huh!” Franky looked at him confused, “Ya better come in then, kitchens that way I'll go get them.”

Franky didn't quite make it back halfway up the stairs when Allie and Debbie both appeared.

“Franky what's going on? I heard Beas name mentioned is she ok?”

“Ya know as much as I do blondie, it's Davis one of the detectives we worked with in Sydney, says it's nothin to worry about but he wants to see you both.”

Allie and Debbie made their way down to the kitchen after Franky said she would tell Bridget what was happening then she'd meet them in the kitchen. Allie linked her arm in Debbie's as they were approaching the kitchen, the police don't come knocking on the door so early in the morning when it's nothing to worry about, they were both nervous and Allie was mentally kicking herself for allowing Bea to persuade her to leave the hospital. Seeing Davis sat at the table she felt like her whole world was about to shatter around her. Davis looked up a warm smile on his face,

“Ladies, I'm really sorry to be here this early…”

“Just tell us what's wrong with mum,” Debbie pleaded.

“As far as I'm aware there is nothing wrong with her, I'm here to let you know that we are moving her to a private hospital, security issues so I'm informed.”

Davis didn't want to scare them unnecessarily, he knew they would need the truth at some point that morning but he didn't want to be the person to have to tell them.

“So there's nothing wrong with her? She's fine….you're not bullshitting us?”

“Debbie isn't it? No I'm not she's fine, I know I could have called but I though it was better this way, I can take you straight over to the hospital as soon as she's settled and you're both ready.”

“So ya gonna tell us the truth then, what security issues?” Franky asked as she walked into the kitchen.

“It's a public hospital Franky, too many people can just walk in and out, the DCI here thought that it would be easier to keep her safe in a private hospital.”

“Yer, there's some funny people running around hospitals these days, some of em even call themselves cops.” Franky threw back at him.

Davis swallowed hard when she said that, he didn't know how she did it but Franky always seemed to know things before she had been told anything, the fact that she had just read an email that she'd received twenty minutes before she had been so rudely woken up was something he didn't know, Linda's contacts were all over this that was certainly true, and although Franky was glad that they were taking everything seriously she couldn't help but worry that they still couldn't keep them safe.

Paul walked into Beas room just as she was almost asleep again, hearing the door open did not impress her one little bit and and she was just about to start shouting at the nurse for stopping her from getting back to sleep when she recognised him.

“What's wrong, Allie….Debbie, Paul you have to tell me.”

“Nothings wrong they are with Franky, safe as houses I assure you, we're moving you to St Vincent's Private Hospital and Detective Ayoub thought it would be better if I accompanied you over there.”

“That's all?” She looked at him with a questioning look.

Paul just nodded as Boomer walked back into the room followed by Adam and Gary, the three of them had not left the hospital all night, the police standing at Beas door had told them that they didn't need to be there but they had all refused to leave, Boomer had spent half the night in Beas room but the nurse kept waking them both up and Boomer had eventually gone searching for somewhere quieter to sleep, finding a waiting room at the end of the corridor she'd slept there for a couple of hours.  
  
“Right yer, so who are ya and what are ya doing in Beas room? And I'm not waitin all day for an answer.”

  
“It's ok Booms, this is Paul, one of the detectives from Sydney.”

“Yer…ya sure? Cos I'm ready to go bunta on his ass if ya don't know him.”

“Booms it's fine, he came to tell me that I'm being moved to another hospital.”

Boomer eyed him suspiciously, why were they moving her, it made no sense to Boomer and she wanted answers, she was quite prepared to do anything to get what she wanted to know out of him even if Bea did know the guy. The nurse walking back into the room made Boomer temporarily forget about Paul and made Bea groan.

“When do we leave?”

———————————————

As Allie Debbie and Franky walked into the private hospital with Davis they noticed the atmosphere was completely different. The air had a slightly perfumed scent and the seats in the waiting areas were plush instead of the uncomfortable plastic chairs they had spent the day before sitting on. Moving through the hospital to get to the room that Bea was now in they couldn't help notice that every surface was dustless, the nurses were unhurried and they moved around with a serene purposefulness from one room to another on their rounds. There were vases of flowers and beautiful pieces of art covering the walls, most rooms they passed they could hear the noise from a television, Allie couldn't help but wonder why Bea hadn't just been brought here the day before and she whispered to Franky who answered with a whisper not wanting Davis to overhear their conversation.

“Couldn't bring her here yesterday, no emergency department, if ya hadn't noticed she's in the rehabilitation unit.”

“So soon?”

“Hey don't ask me, we still don't know why they moved her, I don't believe the whole security thing.”

Allie shook her head, she hadn't payed that much attention to where they were going she was just following Davis until he stopped outside a room and spoke to an officer outside the door, nodding his head Davis told them that they could go in, if they needed anything he would be right outside. The room was so much bigger and brighter than the room Bea had been in the day before even though the room was pretty full of people already, as soon as Boomer spotted Allie and Debbie she told everyone they had to leave and that included Paul, who just smiled at the three of them saying he would be back in a about an hour.

“What have ya done to get brought to a place like this Red, shit….maybe I should get some nut job to try takin me out.”

“That's not funny Franky.”

“I'm just kiddin with ya Red, lighten up a little would ya? Ya lookin better today….so I'm just gonna go hang out with Booms for a while yer.”

Allie and Debbie sat at each side of the bed neither of them knew what to say they were just confused about what was going on and no one was talking, Allie was the first to break the comfortable silence that they found themselves in.

“Has anyone told you why you were moved yet?”

“Not really, I was hoping they would have told you.”

Before they could carry on with their conversation the door opened and a nurse walked in, Bea noticed how different this nurse was from the one she had to put up with all night. The most obvious difference was the way she was dressed, instead of the blue scrubs the nurses wore in the last hospital her uniform was very much formal, navy blue short sleeved blouse with the name of the hospital emblazoned on the left side and black trousers. She wore a serious expression on her face as she was washing her hands at the sink as if she was lost in some worrying thought, when she had finished she turned to face Bea her face softened into a bright smile as she introduced herself to everyone in the room,

“Hi, I'm Brenda, I'll be your nurse, well…” she looked at her watch, “at least until 1800.”

After doing Beas obs, informing her that she was now on standard hourly obs, she asked if there was anything that she needed, when she said she didn't she was about to leave before she turned looking back at Allie saying that if any of them needed her she would be at the nurses station for the next twenty minutes.

Brenda was a person of uncommon gifts, she was like a bird in flight, making something that seemed so impossible for some of her colleagues appear easy and natural. On the wards and single rooms she found it easy to calm patients who other nurses deemed ‘difficult’, one glance at her happy smiling face and experiencing her easy going personality they would easily relax. She would never knowingly hurt a patient, she never became impatient or belittled them, she would listen carefully and with sympathy to their concerns about pains or worries, she always treated each patient like they were people, people who mattered, people who had fears and worries, with older patients she never treated them like they were just withered old bones who were just too stubborn to die. When her gaze fell on a patient it always held the warmth of a loved one and her speech always had a liberal sprinkling of terms of endearment like sweetie, sweetheart and love. It seemed that just her presence made their pain medications work better, their appetites improved and they slept more deeply.

Debbie had giggled as soon as the nurse had left the room causing both Bea and Allie to look at her somewhat puzzled.

“I'm sorry, I just reckon you've got yourself a new fan Allie.”

“What? Don't be so silly, she's just doing her job.”

“Yer, yer, let's see what Franky thinks….think I'll leave you two alone for a while I'm starving, not that Franky doesn't make great toast but it's hardly filling.”

As soon as the door closed behind her Bea shuffled over in the bed, patting the space that she had made.

“Lay next to me, I've missed you.”

“I don't want to hurt you.”

“You won't, please, I've had hardly any sleep thanks to the nurses last night, I just need to feel you close to me.”

Allies eyes showed a gentle concern, she wanted to be close to her but didn't want to be the cause of more pain. Reaching out her hand she lay it on Beas shoulder,

“Isn't that close enough for you?”

“No, not in a million years now get over here.”

Allie never removed her hand from her shoulder as she kicked off her shoes, she spoke to her in such a soft voice, her words were more calming to Bea than even her touch making her feel as if she was wrapped in a soft blanket of her love. Gently climbing on the bed beside her she wrapped her arm gently around her waist conscious of her injuries, Bea pulled her closer, she didn't care about the pain she just wanted her close, they had barely spent any time apart and the few times they had she hadn't slept properly, it seemed impossible to get a good nights sleep when she was alone and this was no different, she was battered and bruised but she needed Allie by her side. Resting her head on Beas shoulder Allie let herself relax for the first time since Tuesday morning. They didn't need to speak, everything they needed to communicate to each other was there in each other's arms, they'd spent so many times just holding each other, they felt safe, they felt the love that flowed between them. They had both fallen asleep within a few minutes, a quiet knock on the door did nothing to disturb either of them, the door opened a little and Paul peeked in seeing them sleeping, he hated having to disturb them but he knew that he must, Detective Ayoub was on her way over with her DCI, they needed to explain what was happening and he knew it was going to be something that neither Allie or Bea would be happy about, seeing them together only made him more convinced that there was no way anyone was going to split them up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did write the end of the chapter slightly under the influence of alcohol, what can I say I had a pint forced on me, as Colin said 'I'm a miserable little f***er' I'm not going to argue, I am right now!


	115. Chapter 115

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just another chapter for all of you who are still reading.

Bea half opened her eyes hearing someone saying her name, and closed them just as quickly,

“Go away,” she mumbled sleepily.

“Bea…Bea…I'm sorry I have to wake you, Detective Ayoub and DCI Jessop need to speak with you, both of you.”

“Tell them to bugger off, I'm tired.”

“Believe me I wish I could but it's important, you want to keep Allie safe don't you?”

Hearing him say Allies name her eyes shot open and she stared at him, looking into his eyes she saw nothing but sincerity looking back at her. The door opened again and Detective Ayoub walked in closely followed by the DCI, Bea gently woke Allie from her sleep, looking around she first saw Paul who smiled at her, when her eyes landed on Detective Ayoub she sat up carefully trying not to cause Bea any more discomfort before getting off the bed and sitting in the chair next to the bed taking Beas hand in hers. The DCI paced back and forth in front of the bed as he started to explain everything that they knew so far, it was a difficult thing for him to admit that he had a detective who was working for a career criminal, Bea had flown into a rage when she heard that Kaplan had been allowed to be in a position where he could get anywhere near her family, it was one thing that he had been in her office but to allow him to get near Allie knowing who he was working for was unforgivable, it made no difference to her when she was told that they hadn't known that at the time. How could they not have know? That was what made no sense to either Bea or Allie.

“Before you go any further I want Franky here,” Bea stated.

“This has nothing to do with Ms Doyle,” the DCI tried to argue, but it was a waste of his breath and he knew it, Bea had a reputation for getting things done and it was in part due to the close bond that her and Franky shared. Telling Detective Ayoub to go and find her he went to the window while he waited. Franky burst into the room demanding to know what was going on, the DCI wouldn't be there if it was nothing serious, anyone who thought differently was an idiot in Franky's eyes. Franky paced around the room as he repeated what he had just told Bea before he continued by telling them that in the interests of keeping Allie and Debbie safe they wanted to place them in a safe house. Allie jumped up from her seat refusing that straight away, saying that there was no way she was leaving Bea and if they thought Debbie would agree to it then they were all mad, no amount of trying to persuade Allie that it was for their safety worked, she told them that the only way they were safe was if they stayed together, as she went on to remind them that they had been told that they should carry on with their day to day lives and that they would be protected that had just ended up with Bea getting hurt and she wasn't going to let that happen again. Allie was adamant that they would not change her mind and told them that she didn't care if she had to sleep on the floor she was not leaving the room again. No one but Franky and Paul had expected her to react like that, the nurse returning to the room easily calmed the situation down before ushering the DCI and Detective Ayoub out, the second she had entered the room she had sensed the emotional hurricane that was in full force and she was not going to get pulled into that particular vortex. As tempting as it was to jump in with both feet she decided straight away to remove the two people from the room who she had heard the loudest as she had been passing Beas room. She was relaxed and her voice was calm when she returned a few moments later asking the remainder of the gathered group to not upset Bea any more than she was already.

“Well shit, better keep an eye on blondie there Red, that ones got her eye on ya girl.”

“What? What the fuck are ya talking about Franky?”

“That nurse, ahh shit are ya blind?”

“Franky did you not hear what she said about not upsetting Bea?”

“I did, but ya better watch ya self around her, did ya not see the way she looked at ya?”

“And have you never heard the phrase about being able to look but not touch?” Allie asked as she sat at the edge of the bed, “she's not Bea and it makes no difference how she looks at me. Now if you all wouldn't mind we were trying to sleep before that idiot came in here.”

Franky and Paul looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders before they walked out of the room deciding that it would be better that they find somewhere else to discuss what needed doing. Finding their way back to the waiting room at the end of the corridor they found Debbie, Boomer, Adam and Gary stuffing their faces on pizza.

“We gotta talk.” Franky simply stated before looking around for Davis, “anyone know where Davis went?”

“Said he was going for drinks or sumfink didn't he Deb?”

Davis soon arrived with drinks in hand, passing them out before they spent the next two hours discussing what the DCI had said, Debbie as they had expected was with Allie.

“Maybe we can arrange for ya to stay in the hospital with her, but I know that they only offer accommodation for relatives of patents that are in either the maternity or paediatric units here, and sleeping in here isn't the answer Deb.”

Davis got up and left the room quietly, he was uncertain if he could help but he intended to try, he knew that their DCI’s oldest son worked for the hospital, it was a long shot but Bea and Franky had been instrumental in finding Ryan, and that had brought out a lot more information on the Holts than anyone could have ever imagined, calling the boss he told him everything that was happening, he was sympathetic but wasn't sure if his son could help, as he pointed out it was a private hospital not a hotel. Davis convinced him to at least ask before he returned to the waiting room.

———————————————

Vinnie Holt was becoming impatient, the news had got back to him within ten minutes that Martin was dead and Bea was still alive, Martin had carried out numerous hits for him in the past and each one had been successful, there had never been a problem until now, maybe he had gone a little too far wanting her to suffer, after all every hit before that had been a simple bullet to the head from a distance, or maybe he had just picked the wrong man for that kind of job. Having spent the last few hours trying to get Kaplan on the phone he had started to wonder if he should just fly over to Melbourne and finish the job himself, he'd done it before and he'd do it again, if there was one thing Vinnie hated more than anything it was being ignored. And he now believed Kaplan was doing exactly that, it would not be tolerated he was going to let him know that one way or another. As he sat in his study he was beginning to wonder if people around him were starting to conspire against him, Jess had become a problem, his idiot son carried on living a party life and blabbing his mouth off to anyone that would listen, but he had a job in mind for Braydon, if he could carry that out successfully he would forgive his mistakes. The phone ringing brought him from his thoughts within seconds.

“Kaplan…..where the hell have you been?”

“She's been moved and I have no idea where to.”

“Then you better find out hadn't you, for gods sake your on the job how hard can it be?”

“I think they're onto me, if they are I can't do anything, I can't get taken down like that have you any idea what happens to an cop in prison?”

“If they are onto you it's no good worrying about it, I'd be more concerned what I'll do to you if you don't get rid of that bitch once and for all.”

Vinnie Holt could be Kaplan’s worst nightmare, he would usually listen to him but it seemed this time nothing was going to stand in his way of getting what he wanted. He understood what made Kaplan tick and that gave him the power to control him and it was so easy to control a man who's love of cocaine outweighed anything, he was too easy and Vinnie controlled him like a remote control toy. In the beginning when he was in Sydney he'd give him the coke on the understanding that he carried out a small task for him it was never anything too distasteful at the start but it gradually worked up to things that Kaplan had never dreamed himself capable of doing. He had so much power over him now that he would do anything he asked and that had included killing someone, all Vinnie had to do was dangle money and drugs before him, tell him it was the last job he would ask him to do and he'd let him get almost close enough to attain it before he'd ask for one more little thing, just to prove that he was loyal of course. Don Kaplan had now become the kind of person that his old self would loathe and despise above all others but there was nothing he could do to change that, this was the end of his game and he was well aware of that, he knew he meant nothing to Vinnie, he was after all dispensable, no longer was it just Vinnie who was his worst nightmare his whole life was becoming that nightmare, a nightmare of his own making and now it was his own pain he feared, he feared those who he cared for most would feel pain and he knew Vinnie knew that. He doubted that Vinnie even knew what caring about other people even felt like, he'd never take Kaplan out while he was still useful to him but the few he cared for would be fair game. Vinnie Holt played a good game, he'd take yet another pawn off the bored of life without batting an eyelid, mostly he didn't have to do anything though, the people around him played the game for him, they would take out the next target even if they were related to them, but there was always a price to pay and Kaplan was well aware of that.

Kaplan went to the station hoping he could find out what was going on but no one was talking, even the newest member of their team was tight lipped around him, he made up excuses for his presence until the DCI walked back into the office and there was nothing left to do but run, the look in his eyes had told him all he needed to know, he guessed they knew about every exchange he'd ever had with Vinnie Holt, worse still he'd visited Derek Channing in prison and he knew he had no official reason to have ever been there. If he ran he was dead if he stayed he was dead, either way he still felt the need to do as he was told, heading out of the station he made the decision that he was going to follow Franky, she would know where Bea was and as long as he could sneak in he could finish the job that Martin had messed up, ‘call it a parting gift’ he thought to himself.

———————————————

Bea had been asleep for around two hours, even the nurse coming into the room hadn't woken her up, Allie was so scared of hurting her that she had just lay next to her not intending to fall asleep, she just needed to be close to her but eventually she had succumbed to sleep. After about twenty minutes she had been woken up by Bea thrashing around and mumbling, Allie sat up just as Bea opened her eyes a look of panic adoring her face. She didn't even know who it was that she was dreaming about but she'd woken up before they could kill her, even in her awakened state she could still feel the presence of the cold blade of the knife at her throat as it dug deeper and deeper into her flesh without cutting her, its sharp edged moving over her smooth skin ready to cut her. Reaching out for Allie she could still hear her heavy breathing and feel the sweat dripping from her forehead, it was only a nightmare she knew that but it was one that left her with the worst memories.

Davis hadn't had to wait long to get a phone call back and to his relief it was good news, he had run back to the waiting room barraging his way back into the waiting room with the news, but not before he'd gone to Beas room, thinking Allie was asleep he'd just left wanting to tell Debbie that they had to go upstairs to see Dean Conner. Debbie had been puzzled until he explained still slightly out of breath what he had done, Franky naturally wasn't allowing Debbie to go anywhere without her and eventually the three of them had gone to the 8th floor. When they were shown into the office they were surprised to find DCI Jessop there, he had some news of his own for Franky and he was sure she wasn't going to like it, although he decided that it could wait until the other arrangements had been discussed.

“I see why my dad speaks so highly of you, he always says you get the job done, I suspect you've gone a little above and beyond here but I completely understand why.” Turning his attention to Debbie, “I've organised for another bed to be put in Ms Smiths room and I'm sure you can work out your own sleeping arrangements. As you know already our rooms are equipped as standard with the an en suite so privacy isn't an issue, and you have the use of a phone, tv and fridge, the nurses on the rehab ward have agreed to let you use their kitchen facilities but if there is anything you require you can ask one of the nurses and they'll be happy to help if they can, if they can't I've already instructed them to contact me and I'll arrange anything you need.”

“Thank you,” was all Debbie could say.

“I believe DCI Jessop needs a word with Ms Doyle so I'll let you use my office for twenty minutes to give you some privacy.”

Franky eyed the DCI, nothing this man had said to her yet was anything she had wanted to actually hear and she was sure that he wasn't about to say anything she wanted to hear now.

“I'm not going to drag this out any longer than I have to and you're not going to be happy with what I have to tell you but I must. Kaplan has been nosing around the station trying to find out where Bea has been moved to.”

“Oh so now ya gonna tell me he knows where she is?”

“No, we have a great team, well except for that one rotten apple, everyone has kept her location to themselves. The problem is that we have a tail on him and right at this very moment he's sitting close to your house, I have to tell you that once you leave the hospital there is no way you can come back, I know Bea is your friend and you want to check on her but it's for the best, it's obvious that his plan is to follow you to find out where she is.”

“Ya gotta be fuckin kiddin me, he's following me, this is all goin to shit.”

“We had discussed moving yourself and your partner to a safe location but I guessed you wouldn't want to do that.”

“Hell no, we ain't leaving the house for an idiot like that.”

“It also wouldn't be wise for you to call the hospital or receive any calls from here, we don't exactly know what capabilities he has on his own but we don't want to take any chances.”

“What about Debbie and Allie? I mean their going to need things from home if they can stay here.”

“And we appreciate that, whilst he's watching you he can't watch anyone else so if Debbie and Allie are agreeable we'll escort them home to get what they need and then they'll be staying here, that means that if they forget something they won't be able to go back home though.”

“So when I leave here I can't see Bea again till this is sorted out? What about other people we know, he can only follow one of us he's only one person.”

“She will be able to have other visitors, and I'm sure they'll keep you updated on her progress, needless to say as soon as we have all the evidence we need to bring him in on charges we'll let you know.”

“I don't like it I'm not gonna lie about that but I get it, I can see her before I leave can't I?”

“Of course, so far he hasn't moved and he has no idea where you are, spend as long as you like with her.”

Franky was unhappy with this new spanner in the works but she had to put on a brave face, at least Bea would have Allie and Debbie with her and that was more important, they would be together and hopefully be kept safe.

“Don't think it's fair that you can't come back after you leave today,” Debbie said with a somber tone.

“Hey, it won't be forever, just let me tell ya mum yer, I doubt she's gonna be happy without my smiling face round the place.”

“You might have to help me convince Allie to come home with me first. Hey you think it'll be ok for me to bring my laptop? I have work to do and I need to call uni to explain things.”

Franky shrugged, they had to pass the nurses station on the way back to Beas room so she guessed they could ask as they passed. Reaching the nurses station Franky recognised Beas nurse and decided that she'd just ask her, she looked busy but Franky didn't have time to be waiting around, getting her attention she looked her right in the eye before asking about internet use, being advised that Bea had to agree to the terms and conditions for its use other than that the wifi connection was free. Franky never lost eye contact with her for a second, noticing that her eyes were the type of brown that was like a sweet chocolate, chocolate that melts at the slightest bit of heat from love or happiness, but that chocolate could grow hard from the cold reality of the world.

“Cheers, I'll let Deb know, oh and while I've got your attention I'd keep ya eyes off blondie, Bea would kick ya ass in a heartbeat if ya try anything there.”

Franky walked away chuckling to herself leaving a slightly embarrassed nurse behind, walking into Beas room Allie was already saying that she didn't want to leave Bea, Debbie was trying to explain that they needed to go and pick up clothes and things for her mum but Allie was adamant that she didn't want to leave her.

“Take a breath there blondie, it's not like ya leaving her behind forever, ya need to get ya ass home for a little bit then you'll be coming straight back, Davis is gonna take ya and I'll stay here with Red, I need a word with her anyway before I go home.”

“You won't leave until we get back?”

“Nope, ya got my word, I'll sit my ass in that chair and not move.”

After Debbie and Allie left with Davis Franky sat in the chair that Allie hadn't long since vacated stretching her legs out and putting her hands behind her head. Bea knew long before she spoke that something was wrong, the usual sparkle that Franky had in her eyes had been extinguished. Her eyes moved slower and were more downcast, skimming the floor as she struggled to make eye contact with Bea. When she did speak it was in her voice as well, she spoke much more quietly than was normal and it held a meekness that wasn't a usual part of her speech pattern. When she told Bea what she had to say it was obvious how unhappy she was and Bea hadn't seen that kind of unhappiness in her in a long time, it was like a small slice of bereavement. They talked until Bea started yawning and Franky had told her to get some more rest, she was fine sitting there until her two favourite girls got back. Bea was soon asleep and Franky turned on the tv, she was still flicking through the channels when Debbie and Allie got back. Franky knew she had to leave while Bea was still asleep, it would be a tearful farewell if she were awake.

“Ya tell her I'll be back as soon as they got that fucker out of the way yer?” Franky walked out of the room slowly, walking passed the nurses station she winked at Brenda, “Remember what I said about blondie aye.”

———————————————

Kaplan was pissed off, there had been no sign of Franky all the time he had been sat there and since he'd swung by the office he knew that no one was there. He needed to try and get this finished, he had a master that controlled every inch of him, his body, soul and mind, he had to pay him a visit soon otherwise he would send someone after him. He felt weak, his body ached after sitting there for way too long he was struggling to not only think but to act rationally, he needed a line or two, this was going to have to wait, next time he wouldn't leave home without it. Once he got his hit everything seemed whole again, his world was a happy place again, everything was perfect. He hated this part of his life, he'd allowed it to take control of everything, a line was all he needed, all he ever wanted it was perfect and made everything for him perfect. In the beginning he could take it or leave it, but a few too many careless encounters and he was hooked, it was his everything and his job had suffered because of it, he didn't want to be in Melbourne his home was Sydney, his life was there. He had changed into someone that would have sickened him years ago but he could do nothing to change what he'd done. When he eventually got back to Franky's he noticed her car was already in the driveway, ‘Fuck,’ he thought to himself, he had wanted to see if anyone came home with her but his habit had once again messed him up. Deciding that he was going to go home and come back early the next morning, calling in sick was the only thing he could do, or maybe say he had a family emergency, either way he couldn't go back to work until this little problem was taken care of.

Allie had insisted that Debbie take the other bed that had been moved into the room, Debbie suggested that they could take it in turns but Allie wouldn't budge, not that Debbie had actually thought she would, so she had just lay quietly on the bed trying to get an essay finished as Bea and Allie had watched tv with the sound turned so low that she knew they couldn't actually hear it. After dinner both Bea and Allie had fallen asleep for a while much to Beas frustration she once again was woken up, what made her angry was that she kept being told she needed to rest then almost as soon as she had fallen asleep she was being woken up again.

After Bea almost bit her head off, something both Debbie and Allie had found amusing Brenda had retreated back to the nurses station, it was the first time in four hours that she'd had a moment to actually sit down, she hadn't taken Franky seriously but after Beas outburst she got the distinct impression that she was right. Most of the day had been a blur of doing obs, bed baths and administering medications, her most elderly patient had taken to ringing her call bell every five minutes or so and if she wasn't at her bedside within seconds she had started shouting and screaming, she'd already missed her lunch break and now she was just dead on her feet, looking at the clock officially her shift was over, she'd already handed all her patients over to another nurse, but instead of going home she'd taken a few minutes just to sit down, ten minutes later she was on her way out of the building and on her way home, if the next day was going to be as bad she imagined that never mind her patient screaming she may well join her.

After having a shower Allie felt more human again, tired but at least human, laying back on the bed next to Bea she watched her sleeping, she couldn't help thinking how long she had waited to meet someone like her, and she'd all but given up hope, it was rare that you ever met a soul like Bea, someone who would play like she did, fight like she did and who would hold on with more determination to the people she cared about, she was a rare find and Allie new that. Bea had opened her eyes for a few seconds and ran her fingers down Allie arm, she wouldn't want to be anywhere else than she was right then, it could have ended so differently, but she felt that their love was legendary, just one kiss was more addictive than any drug known to man. Closing her eyes again she was as content as anyone could be given their current situation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm....so I'm wondering where the next chapter is going to take them, anyone else have any ideas?


	116. Chapter 116

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure that I would get this chapter finished today but it seems I was more dedicated to writing it than I thought I was.

_A week later……_

 

  
Channing was fuming after being returned to his cell, everything had been turned upside down, he'd spent over a week in solitary, a steady stream of detectives had shown up to interview him and the only one he had wanted to see had never shown up. He needed a new phone and this time he needed to find a better hiding place, he knew who he could go to to get a phone brought in but it would cost him and without being able to get hold of Kaplan he had no way of getting his hands on the money. If he could just find a way to contact Vinnie Holt he could find out what was going on on the outside but he was stuck in a cell, his every move was constantly monitored, the officers weren't subtle about watching him when the idea came to him, maybe he could watch them, find the one that had a weakness and get to them through that, he'd spent enough time working in the prison service to know how to spot a desperate prison officer.

Channing quickly got bored watching the officers it proved that it wasn't as easy as he first thought and for the better part of the morning every officer he had any contact with were already wise to him, they knew all about him and would never let him get under their skin. After lunch and the shift changeover Channing was in his cell laying on his bed trying to think up another plan when he felt like he was being watched, sitting up he couldn't place the officer looking back at him, the face was familiar but he knew he'd never seen him around the prison.

“Can I help you?” Channing snapped.

“There's no need to be like that Channing, heard you spent a week in solitary, silly really you would think a man with your intelligence would know better than to hide a phone in his cell.”

“Don't I know you from somewhere?” Channing asked with a quizzical tone.

Detective Rick Manning had agreed to take on this job, no one could crack Channing and it had been decided that if anyone could it would be him, he was very familiar with undercover work and he was tough. When he'd first been asked the DCI had wanted him to go in as a prisoner, Manning had laughed at the thought pointing out that a prisoner couldn't get Channing everything he wanted without heightening his suspicions, but an officer, someone who went home everyday, who had a life on the outside was well positioned to be above most of his suspicions sure he'd be wary of him at first but with a good back story anything was possible. It wasn't difficult to come up with his cover story he'd been in the papers years ago when he was new on the job for his part in taking down the criminal gang of Eddie Savage, for years he'd moved around from station to station all over the country when the remaining members of Eddies gang had sworn to hunt him down, during that time he'd worked undercover eventually bringing the remainder of that gang to rights. There wouldn't be many prisoners who actually knew who he was so he wasn't worried about going in under his real name, he was nearing retirement anyway and this he thought could be his last undercover job, he had been tied to a desk the last five years and he missed the work.

“It's possible you might remember me, years ago I was a cop, got myself into a sticky situation back then.”

“Yer well, not doing so well for yourself now are you, a prison officer, real move up in the world.”

“Can't complain, I've done alright out of it if you know what I mean.”

Channing looked at him with a raised eyebrow, could this really be what he was looking for? A bent screw was an interesting turn of events. He wasn't going to just trust him straight away and Manning knew that, the plan was in motion already, some prisoners were going to be transferred out of his unit over the next few days and replaced with new prisoners, Channing wouldn't know that they weren't actually prisoners.

Franky was having a bad day, she couldn't concentrate, everything and everyone around her was making her angry and she didn't even know why. David had spent the whole morning shut in Beas office trying to stay out of her way and keep himself busy working on three different cases that he didn't need help with. Franky walked out of her office and looked out of the window,

“Fucking prick is still out there, has he followed ya Liz?”

“No love, not since the first day you came back to work and I went out to fetch lunch.”

“And ya sure ya ain't seen him when ya at home?”

“Franky love you're being too sensitive.”

“Sensitive, fuck Liz the prick wants to take out my best friend, I want to go see her and I can't.”

“I know love, and I'd like to go and see her but as things stand I know it's best I don't, don't you start thinking that you're the only person who's worried, you're not in this alone, why don't we ask David to go over now and find out how she's doing?”

“How about I just call Booms and we go out there and punch his fucking head in?”

Liz shook her head as she sat and listened to Franky fly into another rage, that rage had built up in her like a deep water current, she was trying, had tried to to do everything right and still she found herself in the middle of a mess. The normal mild mannered work version of Franky suddenly turned into a wicked tornado the words spilling from her mouth capable of reducing most people to human rubble. It started like a vexing of her soul, what she felt didn't even feel human in the slightest, it was twisted, distorted and very strong. Burning like a fire out of control in her veins and creeping up her spine and all she could feel was a desire to hate, she was intoxicated with an emotion that she had never had any intention to feel as the acidity of it all resided in her stomach just waiting for her to spit it out of her mouth in the form of her foul and vulgar words not that she said them, she screamed them out with every ounce of breath that was in her lungs. Being forced into passivity against her Will was the cause of Franky's rage throwing open the door she was about to confront Kaplan, adrenaline flooded her system as she flew out of the office as if she had been hooked up to an intravenous drip and her heart felt ready to explode. She wanted to march right over to him and drag him from his car, rip him limb from limb but instead she stayed right where she was doing what was on her mind was not the best choice and she knew that as she turned and walked back into the office slamming the door behind her and falling into one of the chairs.

David was not ready for his first full experience of a really angry Franky and although he had peeked out of Beas office had chosen to stay where he was until it fell silent. Emerging from the office he looked at Liz not sure if he should stay where he was,

“It's alright now love, just Franky taking her frustrations out on the world, she's going to behave now aren't you?”

Franky just sighed

“Well….errr, I've been thinking…..”

“Yer, I can tell wondered who's cogs were grindin.”

“Think I could sneak you in to see Bea.”

Franky sat up she was all ears for this, of course David could be full of shit but anything was worth a shot as long as she wasn't followed.

———————————————

Bea, Allie and Debbie had spent most of the day watching tv and chatting, Debbie still had coursework to do but really she knew she needed a break, she'd spent the last two days reading and trying to complete an essay, being stuck in the hospital wasn't the ideal situation for any of them but right now it was the safest place. She had gone outside for some fresh air the day before closely followed by Adam who hadn't left the hospital for more than a few hours in the last week. Bea had tried her hardest to convince him that he should go home but he still felt guilty about what had happened to her and had told her that he wasn't leaving, if she wanted to have him thrown out by security that was fine but he would just sleep in his car and keep watch from outside, he knew who he was looking for and a drug abusing detective was no match for him. He couldn't get rid of the guilt, it cut him deep, he was a trained professional and he let his guard down for a few moments, he tried to remind himself that while it was impossible to let go of what he didn't do that day he had to carry on. He would never forgive himself but in Beas eyes his slate had been wiped clean, she'd told him that he didn't need to do anymore but he had protested and refused to leave the hospital, he would do just what he felt he needed to do.

Just after dinner that day an unfamiliar nurse had entered Beas room to check on her, none of them had ever seen her before and Allie was worried. She clearly wasn't a regular on the the rehab ward and was less than friendly towards either of them when she saw Allie laying next to Bea on her bed watching tv. She proceeded to give her a piece of her mind telling her that she was not supposed to be on the bed it was for the patients use only and that if she was going to continue to lay on Beas bed she would have her removed from the hospital. Debbie burst out in a fit of laugher gaining her a disapproving look from the nurse,

“I can also have you removed from the hospital young lady, this may be a private hospital but that does not mean you can do as you please.”

“Really, should I just call DCI Jessop and see what he has to say about that, I think you should find out your facts from the other nurses before you walk in here giving my parents a hard time.”

Both Bea and Allie shot their heads in Debbie's direction.

“And if you keep this up I'm sure they will take great pleasure in reporting you to Mr Conner, he did give us permission to stay with mum, after all why do you think there are two beds in a single room?”

The nurse huffed as she proceed to do Beas obs before stomping out of the room.

“Fucking idiot,” Debbie mumbled under her breath not expecting the nurse to hear her.

The door swung back open and the nurse came stomping back in.

“That's it, I'm not taking anymore of your abuse I want you both out of this room now, I'll be calling security to have you both removed immediately.”

Debbie saw red, whoever this nurse was she didn't even bother to find out about the patients she was supposed to be taking care of and her mum deserved better than that after everything she had been through the week before. Debbie stood toe to toe with the nurse shouting at her, there was no way she was going to sit back and take this. Brenda was passing Beas room and heard shouting, she was late getting to all of her patients because of her all too familiar difficult elderly patient and should have been on her way to Beas room ten minutes ago, opening the door slowly she was shocked to see the other nurse arguing with Debbie.

“That's enough, what do you think you are doing?”

“They need to leave….Now.” The other nurse simply stated.

“Completely out of the question, both Allie and Debbie are here with Bea for their own protection, seriously you didn't wonder why there was a police office outside the door?”

“But….but….its against hospital policy to have family stay in a patient's room,” she replied with a smug expression on her face.

“Unless it's been authorised by the Nursing Clinical Director which I can assure you it has, but if you would like me to get Mr Conner on the phone I'm sure you'll find it to be a very interesting conversation.”

The nurse stormed out of the room letting the swing closed behind her.

“Sorry about that, I'm behind my time, I'll see you all tomorrow, do you need anything before I go?”

All three of them shook their heads and she left them to it.

“Hmmm, well that told her I think, hope she's not going to be back any time soon,” Debbie grumbled.

“Deb you can't do that to the nurses, and what was that all about anyway?”

“Which bit?”

“The parents bit.”

“Oh yer, well you kinda are, I mean Harry was never there for us….Allie…well, she's always been there since you first got together……I ummm, I'm sorry I shouldn't have said it…”

“You really see Allie like that?”

Debbie just nodded trying not to look at either of them, she figured that they would be mad at her, but she did mean it, being at uni she never got the chance to speak to them about what was on her mind, with all the craziness after Harry's death she had meant to but it had slipped her mind again. She'd spoken to Liz and she'd told her that she should speak to them. Debbie stood up mumbling about finding Adam and going for some fresh air leaving the room as fast as she could. She couldn't believe she'd just blurted that out.

Bea patted the empty space on the bed and Allie was more than happy to sit next to her.

“Does it bother you? What Debbie said about us being her parents?”

Allie shook her head, “No, it was just a shock, I mean I love her like she is my own but I never thought for a second that she would see me like that.”

“So who's going to tell her that, you or me?”

Allie turned pulling her legs up on the bed leaning forward she captured Beas lips in a slow passionate kiss before pulling back a little.

  
“I think we should tell her together.”

Bea pulled her back in for another kiss as she tangled her hands through her blonde locks, pulling back slightly Allie tried to speak but Bea pulled her back in again flinching slightly. Allie pulled back,

“That's it, you hurt yourself again, and as much as I really love kissing you I don't want to hurt you…plus we never know if that nurse is hanging around trying to catch us off guard.”

“Spoil sport!”

Allie extracted herself from Bea and the bed which was a little difficult as Bea was not overly keen on letting her go.

“I'm going to have a quick shower, think I need one, don't you dare try going anywhere.”

“As if I could even if I wanted to I'm pretty sure the nurses would frog march me back in here the second they saw me.”

Allie had only been in the shower for a couple of minutes when the door opened, Bea was expecting it to be Debbie….

“Franky….how?”

“Well that's a great welcome, it's great to see you too Red…..did ya miss me?”

“Course I have, it's been a week but I thought they said you couldn't come back until they had Kaplan….they've got him right?”

“Ahhhhh….not quite…..David had a plan to get me out of the office cos the fuckers been watching me day and night, but don't worry he hasn't followed me, fuckin idiot fell for it that's why I'm late, had to wait till it started to get dark.”

“So how?”

“Fucker must be blind I guess…..no seriously, David got Gary to hire a van and he parked it right in front of the office door, walked around outside in Davids cap half the fuckin day so he saw me, swapped jackets with David and hid behind the van, David drove my car and the dickhead followed him, cant stay long though gotta get back to the office to swap cars with David.”

“It's good to see you Franky but I wouldn't make a habit of this.”

Allie almost fainted when she saw Franky sitting by the bed, after explaining the whole situation again they all ended up laughing. When Debbie walked back in she was just confused and Bea said she'd explain it to her later. Boomer had been into see her earlier that morning for half an hour but she had to rush off to get to the salon, Franky's presence had be missed, even her inappropriate comments were welcomed by Bea. After an hour a nurse had asked Franky to leave because visiting time had been over two hours before she arrived.

“Next time I'm hoping I don't have to sneak in to see ya.” Turning to Allie before she left, “Ya make sure ya look after my girls.”

The second Franky stepped out of the hospital she felt her adrenaline surge so fast she felt like she was going to vomit as she looked around hoping that she had no unwanted attention, she saw no one who shouldn't be around, no sign of Kaplan's car and she sighed in relief. Her inner peace had been shattered that morning and now she had a score to settle, Kaplan had to be sorted out, she made a mental note to call Paul the next day, he was back in Sydney and she hoped they had uncovered more details about his dealings with Vinnie Holt. She had to admit though Davids plan as simple as it had been had worked, Franky always tried to stick to the rules, they showed her what boundaries were ready for breaking next, and she loved to push the boundaries. If she was told she couldn't walk on the grass she'd gather her friends together and break out a picnic. Tell her she couldn't hop on a train and ride all the way to Sydney, she'd see you at Port Macquarie. She needed a better reason not to push the boundaries other than just because someone else said she couldn't. Who got hurt she'd ask? And she'd expect names and addresses or shut the door right in your face. She'd do as she pleased as long as she broke no laws.

Kaplan was confused, he thought he was following Franky home but when her car had taken a different turning it made no sense, there were no hospitals in that direction so she couldn't be trying to visit Bea. He followed her car for the 20 minute drive over to Davids place, when he saw David get out of the car he knew he'd been had, ‘that bitch,’ he groaned. Now what could he do? He'd just have to wait, 45 minutes later David had got back in the car and had driven back to the office, the van that had been parked there all afternoon had gone and he had a clean line of sight to the office and sat on the bonnet of Davids car was Franky. She had to have gone to see Smith, that was the only thing that made sense, there was no other reason for her to do something like that. It didn't help that he'd been high for most of the afternoon, he'd tried to resist but his brain had protested and he'd given in as if his actions were no longer under his control. His hands had moved without him even having to think about it, the battle was lost at that point. Later on he'd tried to creat reasons why it was alright for him to have done it, ‘it was just one more line, I'll do better tomorrow, I deserve this because there's just nothing else to do,’ until that point he had never really thought of his habit as an addiction, now he knew it was and he needed to stop, if the drugs didn't get him Vinnie would.

After following Franky home he knew he had to think of some way to find out where Bea was, he had his badge, he could go round every hospital in Melbourne and try his luck, and if he went at night there were less people around, what about the guy he knew would be outside her door? And where the hell were her daughter and her little slut? When his phone rang he didn't even look at who was calling, that was his second mistake of the day.

“Kaplan, Kaplan, Kaplan…..I thought you were a man of your word, the Smith bitch is still alive care to tell me why? No don't bother I know why don't I? Your useless, I can see that yellow streak that runs the length of your spine from here. I'm going to tell you this just once more, you have until Friday, did you hear that FRIDAY…….if she's not dead by then you will be!”

The line went dead, rubbing his hand over his face he had no alternative, he had to go with his first thought, it was going to be a long night as he set off for the closest hospital. He was so caught up in what Vinnie had just said he didn't even see the police cars heading in his direction from both ends of the street, not until it was too late to do anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may more than likely not get another chapter finished tomorrow, but I will have one ready for Thursday, you can count on that.


	117. Chapter 117

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little late being posted, I had it finished hours ago but then I was too lazy to read it through.

Kaplan froze as he stopped the car, he had no way out and he knew it, gripping the steering wheel he couldn't even think. The drivers door was opened and he was told to get out of the vehicle, his brain was racing at a hundred miles an hour as he moved himself slowly coming face to face with Detective Ayoub, Don Kaplan I am arresting you for conspiracy to murder…. He didn't hear anything else that was said to him after the word murder was thrown in there, and he could barely think while he was being searched, the contents of his car was completely forgotten.

Sitting him in the back of a police car Detective Ayoub watched on as his car was searched, she wasn't sure what they were looking for or if anything else incriminating would even be in there, not that it mattered they had the evidence they needed that proved he was planning to kill Bea after being told to do so by Vinnie Holt. The search of his car proved quite successful when the officer conducting the search stumbled upon his bag of coke, showing it to Detective Ayoub she had seen enough and she wanted to get him back to the station. Returning to the police car she further arrested him for being in possession of a drug of dependence, slamming the door she told the officers who were sat in the car with him to take him back to the station. She was in no hurry to get back to the station herself, wanting him to sweat for a while in a cell, after everything he had done it wouldn't hurt him to wait.

Franky couldn't help but wonder what was going on outside and Bridget had convinced her to stay inside, they both knew that Kaplan was following Franky and if he was sitting outside she didn't want Franky getting hot headed and getting herself in to any trouble. Franky had told her about her melt down that morning and also about her little clandestine visit to Bea, naturally Bridget had been worried, she was concerned about her recovery but wouldn't venture anywhere close to the hospital because she couldn't be sure that there wasn't anyone following her. The knock on the front door made them both jump, it was getting late and neither of them were expecting anyone, Franky went to the door yanking it open ready almost ready to punch whoever was there until she saw the detective,

“What's goin on? Fuck tell me nothing's happened to Bea.”

“As far as I'm aware Bea is fine, can I come in for a moment?”

“Yer sure.”

Franky stepped to one side to let the detective enter before closing the door and showing her through to the living room.

“So what's wrong?”

The detective began explaining everything that had just happened as Franky stood trying to take the information in.

“So he really was tryin to get to Bea, ya sure he'll stay locked up?”

“At this stage I can't say anything for certain Franky you know that, I can say that he won't be bailed from the police station however when we get him to court I can't say what a magistrate will do but with the evidence we have I wouldn't think anyone would be stupid enough to release him.”

“So this means I can see Bea again? Ya know even Liz hasn't been to see her because she was scared he might follow her.”

“Yes, but keep your eyes open, I don't know if he had anyone working with him.”

Leaving Franky's house the officer conducting the search of Kaplan's car called her over showing her the gun that had been found under the passenger seat its serial number had been filed off.

"Make sure that doesn't go missing before it gets to the station, Kaplan really is stupid that's for sure."

At the police station Kaplan was pacing his cell, there was something very disturbing about being on the inside of that concrete box, it had been engineered with exact precision. The corners were sharp and straight and the small window was a perfect square, he'd put plenty of people inside a cell but never thought that he himself would ever be alone in one with the door closed firmly behind him. He knew Ayoub wasn't going to rush to get him out of there to interview him, not knowing how long she would leave him in there was driving him mad, but not knowing what Vinnie would do now was worse. He knew he wasn't getting out of this, couldn't talk his way out of it or lie his way out of it, even the best solicitor in the country couldn't get him out of what he had done. The way he saw it he was a dead man walking, he was going to prison he knew that was how it would end, but who would get to him first?

Once back at the station Detective Ayoub was going over the evidence they had, the phone calls between Kaplan and Holt left no doubt that he had to have been working for Holt for years and she'd like to know how long they had been associated, if he was prepared to kill Bea had he done anything like that before? She had so many questions swimming around in her head when the DCI walked into her office.

“Holt is trying to contact Kaplan again, his phone is ringing every couple of minutes out there.”

“How desperate do you think he is?”

“That's a good question, why he wants to have Bea Smith killed is a mystery, sure she investigated the Ryan Green case but it was the police that put that to bed, she had no contact with Warner.”

“No, but she and Franky found out a little too much information regarding the old chief, they are still looking into that connection over in Sydney, I heard they've arrested another two officers who have had contact with Holt outside of professional contact.”

After leaving Kaplan in his cell overnight Detective Ayoub arrived back at the station, Kaplan's car had been more thoroughly searched during the night and a few other things had been found, a silencer and a cocaine kit being the first two things that were brought to her attention. After grabbing a coffee and the file she had left on her desk she headed to the custody suite with another detective. After speaking to the custody Sargent they went through to the cell area to get Kaplan, as the cell door opened Kaplan looked worried, he knew police procedure, he knew what was in store for him, they'd interview him, give him the kind of grilling that he prided himself in. Leading him to an interview room he felt the dread start to own him, it had his stomach locked up tight nothing was getting in or out. His face was set like rigor mortis with his teeth locked tight together, if he could turn back time, drag the sun from the sky and inject amnesia into the minds of everyone he had ever met since he started working for Vinnie Holt he would, but it was here now his time had come. He didn't want to answer their questions but he knew he must, they would find everything out either way. He answered their questions, not that he could shed any light on the reason why Vinnie Holt actually wanted Bea dead, when the questions turned towards Derek Channing he felt sick. The clock on the wall seemed to be ticking like a timer on a bomb, he couldn't stop it, reverse it or slow it down, each second that ticked away dragging him forward helpless and nervous. He could do no more to avoid telling them everything than he could avoid the beating of his heart as it pounded with futility against its cage of bone. The dread that surrounded this line of questioning sat like an invisible demon sitting heavy on his shoulders and only he could hear it whispering in his ear as it sharpened its knives. He started to sweat and his face turned pale, almost as pale as a moonbeam, then his hands began to shake uncontrollably, if they thought Vinnie Holt was bad they had no idea what Derek Channing was actually capable of or what he still controlled from his prison cell. His head became giddy and he felt nauseous, all he could do was sit in his chair and will it to pass quickly but his mind felt like it was starting to fail, like an engine that turns over and over but never kicking into action, his thoughts deserted him and he couldn't formulate a single word. After watching him struggle for five minutes Detective Ayoub suspended the interview to allow him a break and something to drink. Three hours later he had finally divulged everything he knew about Channing leaving two rather shocked detectives. After ending the interview they returned him to the custody suite to be formally charged, the custody Sargent had always thought he was an great guy, always ready for a laugh and a joke now he stood in front of him as he read out his charges, Kaplan didn't listen to most of what was being said to him until his charges were read to him.

“…….you are charged with conspiracy to commit murder contrary to section 26 of the crimes act 1900………you are also charged with possession of a drug of dependence contrary to section 73 of the drugs, poisons and controlled substances act 1981………..you are also charged with being in possession of an unregistered firearm contrary to section 36 of the firearms act 1996, do you understand these charges?”

Kaplan just nodded his head before the Sargent carried on speaking,

“I am authorising your detention with respect to these charges until you can be transferred to court, do you understand?”

Again Kaplan just nodded his head, of course he understood the charges, he was surprised that they hadn't charged him with anything else, luckily he hadn't had the silencer attached to the gun at the time they found it otherwise he knew he would have been charged with possession of a prohibited weapon and they hadn't pressed any charges for the cocaine kit they had found, not that it mattered his charges were sending him to prison on remand, there was no way any magistrate would grant him bail.

———————————————

Bea had woken up that morning to the sound of raised voices out in the corridor, not that she was all that interested in the commotion she was pissed off at being woken up by some inconsiderate people, turning her attention to Allie she was glad that she was still asleep as she pulled her in a little closer. The voices out on the corridor were getting closer to her door and she recognised the nurses voice, it was the nurse who had had the argument with Debbie and as her voice got closer she was hoping that she wasn't going to walk into her room, it was too early to end up in a confrontation with her again. A few seconds later she heard a mans voice,

“I don't care what time it is, that's my daughter in there and you will not stop me from seeing her.”

Bea was confused when a few moments later her room door flew open and her dad walked in.

“Dad……how, who told you I was here?”

“Franky, she called me the day all this happened, I'm sorry baby girl I couldn't get here sooner, I would have but I had the boys for a few days while Andrew and Jessica were away, they needed a break and I offered to have the boys stay with me…….how are you feeling?”

“Oh you know, sore but I'll live.”

“No need to ask how Allie and Debs are feeling, they look so peaceful, can't believe the nerve of that nurse.”

“She had a argument with Debs a few days ago because she told Allie she wasn't meant to be on my bed.”

“That's just stupid, what were you doing?”

“Watching tv, I tell you if my nurse hadn't walked in when she did I'm not sure what would have happened.”

  
Just then Allie began to stir,

“Hmmm, babe what time is it?”

“Early, but we have a visitor.”

“Is it visiting time already?….wait what….who?”

Allie opened her eyes seeing Michael standing beside the bed smiling at her, blinking a few times as she tried to sit up,

“Babe you need to let me go, as much as I love laying here with you you have a visitor, and I really need to pee.”

Michael had just sat in the chair when the door opened again a very frustrated looking Brenda standing in the doorway trying to apologise for the disgusting behaviour of the nurse he had encountered in the corridor. She had been instructed not to go to Beas room or create any more problems but she just couldn't help herself, it was strictly out of visiting hours but given the situation they had found themselves in all the other nurses had been prepared for her to have visitors at odd times.

They had sat chatting for the next hour when Franky burst into the room looking very excited.

“Red they got him, Kaplan, arrested him last night almost right outside our house.”

Debbie had still been asleep until she heard Franky's voice, opening her eyes she turned over asking Franky to keep the noise down she was tired and and just wanted to sleep when her eyes suddenly landed on her grandad, rubbing her eyes she wasn't sure if she was awake or if she was actually dreaming.

“Gramps,” she gasped as she sat up, “Franky what are you doing here? Bridget kick you out of the house for being too annoying?”

“Ha ha, no kiddo, I came to tell you all that they arrested Kaplan, means I won't have to sneak around to see you all, well I think it does, haven't spoken to Detective Ayoub yet this morning, I called but was told that she was busy so I'm guessing they have the prick in an interview room.”

“I guess we'll know soon enough.”

Franky stayed at the hospital for around half an hour before leaving saying she wanted to get to the office early so she could call everyone.

Just after lunch Detective Ayoub arrived outside Beas room speaking to the officer who was posted there at that time before she entered the room. Taking a seat at the other side of the bed she explained everything from Kaplan's arrest, his charges and everything he had told them about Channing. Michael sat there listening to everything that was being said but his eyes never left his daughter, she had journeyed through her life thus far never on calm seas until she had met Allie, until that point her life had been one storm after another, something that would have shattered most people, she wasn't most people, he'd seen her at her worst and now he'd seen her looking so happy. He was proud of her, although once more she had got hurt it wasn't because she was in a bad place it was because she was so good at the job she did, a job he knew she loved. He'd been upset when Franky had first called because he couldn't get there, after she had been moved to St Vincent's and Franky had called him again he knew she would be alright when she told him that Allie and Debbie were staying with her. As his eyes wondered over to Allie he could see just how much she loved her, how proud she was of her too, his little girl should be proud of herself he thought, there was something about her no matter what she was facing that made her heart burn so bright, it ignited her soul and he knew that was an uncommon gift, but it was one she possessed.

Not long after Detective Ayoub left there was a buzz of excited voices outside Beas room, they could all hear a nurse trying to make herself heard right before the door burst open and Boomer almost bounced into the room closely followed by Maxine, Liz, Franky, David, Will, Shane a Linda. The nurse tried to apologise to Bea saying that she had tried to ask them all to calm down, Bea just laughed saying that if that ever happened she'd wonder what had happened to her friends. ‘They say you can't bottle love,’ Bea thought to herself but she knew that had to be wrong, Boomer was proof of that, the second she waltzed into the room with her bouncy stride and wide smile as she stopped by the side of the bed reaching out for a hug, Boomer was surly love in a bottle, just seeing her made everyone around her glad to be alive.

Bea looked at each of the assembled group in turn as they chatted and tried to tell her everything she had missed and how much they missed her, she knew each one of them, others better than some, but here they all were when she was sure they had other things they could be doing rather than visiting her in the hospital.

Boomer she thought always craved maximum attention probably because her parents always favoured her sister, even in the supermarket when Booms was there every head turned, her voice carried over the isles as she laughed and told you the latest gossip that she'd heard in the salon, even with her volume toned down her presence always got her noticed. Liz, Liz must have been a flower in bloom since the day she was born, her eyes were almost always full of care and compassion and her laugh was loud and full bodied, she exuded a warmth that everyone flocked to and she was never more alive than when she was with her friends, she gave the best advice to all who ever asked for it and always listened to all sides of a story before she gave her opinion. David she had known for so many years, he had always been the beating heart of every group he was ever in, he had the ability to speak loudly and he exuded confidence, joining the army had been good for him. He was not a raw extrovert though, he had a softer side to him, even with the most introverted people he was always able to forge a connection, putting people at ease and getting them to engage with him. Franky had always been a hurricane, the eye of the storm, mostly she was happy but until she had found Bridget she'd always had a constant need to engage everyone in jokes, in banter and in games so much so she left everyone around her feeling frazzled. She was the life of the party, when they had given her a chance at the salon so many years ago now she had been a natural, the customers had bathed in her sunshine when she greeted them as warmly as a long lost friend. They had forged a bond and Franky had seen her at her worst, had been the one who had first called her out when she lied about a new bruise, they became best friends at a time when Bea thought she had no one and she had never left her side since. Maxine was one of a kind, she couldn't just sit around and look at four walls, she needed to see real people, to talk and to laugh. She loved to hear stories and jokes, she didn't care to just sit alone and watch tv much, a good drama with a tub of ice cream was fine as long as it was recorded so she could skip the adverts. She was happy and she knew life was precious she enjoyed splitting her time between her responsibilities and having fun, both fed her soul she needed both the loud and the peaceful joys of life. Linda, they had nothing much in common other than a will to always get the right result, they differed so much, Bea was lead by her emotions and Linda by cool logic. Will wanted to change the world one person at a time, he had the courage to walk away from a well trodden path, he was brave of heart and had a true desire to make things better for everyone he was creative and knew the difference between complexity and intelligence. Giving Allie a chance to work at the bar was a decision he had never regretted and he'd helped her go from strength to strength since giving her the job. Shane she had to admit she didn't really know well, she knew his life had never been an easy one and that as a youngster he had gone through hell, but his life had improved, he had found good people who cared for him, he had enough to eat and money in his pocket, most people didn't see his vulnerability but Bea did, most people did not see his lack of roots but he still painted the world with the vibrancy of his laughter, hugs and kindness, he looked forward to a future he never thought he could have and worked hard at everything he did.

Visiting time had long since been over by the time everyone had left, Franky and Boomer had gone out to get food for everyone and they'd enjoyed just being together again as one big family. Michael had left early because he was still tired, he'd arrived on the earliest flight he could get and hadn't slept a wink on the plane, all he wanted to do was get to his little girls side. Allie was sitting in the chair beside the bed and Bea could see that she was ready to fall asleep,

“Go and get ready for bed.”

“I will in a second, why did Debbie go home with Franky?”

“I think she's sick of seeing this room, can't blame her you could have gone with them, I think you're safe enough for now.”

“I told you I'm not leaving you, I don't care what anyone says I'm staying right here.”

Allie went to the en suite to have a quick shower, she was exhausted but so happy to see Bea laugh as much as she had earlier even though she had hurt herself a few times. She was laying back in bed when Allie returned to the room heading over to the other bed, the second Bea saw where she was going she frowned before pulling back the cover on her bed and patting the space she'd made next to her letting her know that she wanted her to sleep with her. She wanted to be close to her but thought that just for once she'd like her bed to herself, and after what happened that morning with that awful nurse she really didn't want to risk her being on shift in the morning and starting anything again since there was a spare bed in the room. Bea knew exactly was she was thinking and held out her hand to her encouraging her to get closer, taking her hand in hers she gently tugged on it, a pain shot through her left side but she ignored it she wasn't allowing Allie to sleep on her own and if she knew she was in pain she would just flat out refuse to get in bed with her. Allie could never resist Bea when she looked at her with that pleading look in her eyes and she knew it was pointless to even try because she always gave in. Slipping into the bed beside her Bea instantly pulled her close, being close to Allie was always a struggle but now they were alone laying close together she felt that all too familiar pull in her body as she connected their lips. It had been too long since the last time they were alone and every fibre of her being was craving her touch. She couldn't care less in that moment that they were in a hospital as she allowed her hand to slip under Allies shirt caressing her soft skin. A moan escaped Allies lips as she deepened the kiss and Beas fingers worked their way higher coming into contact with her bare breast. She loved how soft her skin was and the fire that had ignited in her she knew she needed more, pulling her closer all she wanted was to feel more of Allie as she pulled her on top of her crying out in pain as soon as she did. Allie felt dizzy and her heart felt as if it would beat right out of her chest, she knew they couldn't keep doing this, not just because they were laying in a hospital bed but because it had to be causing Bea pain, it took a couple of seconds for her brain to process her crying out but as soon as she did she moved back, looking into Beas eyes and seeing a tear ready to escape.

“I'm so sorry, I got carried away, I never meant to hurt you.”

“You didn't, it was my own fault, don't leave me, I need you here.”

“But I don't want to hurt you.”

“I told you already, it was my own fault, you know I can't resist you.”

Laying next to her she snuggled in close to Bea and was soon asleep, Bea lay in the dark looking at her as she lay in her arms, even in the dark she could see her, she was like a shining beacon. The creamy tone of her skin reminded her of whipped cream as the moonlight shone through the window and rested on Allies sleeping form. Sometimes she wondered if she reached out would she only graze air, if she was really there or just a ghost of her imagination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if I will get another chapter posted tomorrow or not, I have no desire to start writing again today, I'll just see what tomorrow brings I guess.


	118. Chapter 118

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm surprised that I actually got this finished because my attempts to write this morning were pitiful at best.

A week later everything had calmed down considerably, Kaplan had been committed for trial in the Supreme Court due to the severity of his charges and was being held on remand, the governor had placed him in the protection unit for his own safety not that he ever felt safe no matter where he was and being in the same prison as Derek Channing didn't fill him with confidence that he would ever be safe.

Debbie had been spending most nights staying with Franky and Bridget, Bea didn't mind there was no need for her to be staying in the hospital all the time, she had tried to spend one night at home but being there alone had freaked her out a little, every noise she heard had her on edge and she had called Franky in the middle of the nigh to go and get her. While she had waited for her to get there she sat on the sofa, every light on in the house, her fear sat on her like a pillow covering her mouth and nose, she could breath but her fear was crippling. Franky knocking on the door had made her jump and she suddenly realised that this must have been how her mum had felt for so many years when her and Harry were together.

“Come on Deb I didn't get out of bed in the middle of the night to stand on the doorstep,” Franky shouted through the door.

When Franky dropped her off at the hospital the next day she had been quieter than was normal and both Bea and Allie picked up on it straight away, she hadn't wanted to worry them and had decided not to say anything about what had happened the night before but when Bea had kept asking her what was wrong she had given in and told them what had happened. Bea had already been worried about her when she had said that she was going to spend the night at home, just because Kaplan was out of the way didn't mean that there wasn't someone else ready to take his place. Bea had called Franky while Debbie was out of the room to ask if she would mind if Debbie stayed with them and Franky had agreed without hesitation.

Channing had heard that Kaplan was somewhere in the prison and had tried to get the information he wanted out of officer Manning but he was staying tight lipped, the only thing he had told him was that he was in the protection unit. The undercover officers that had been placed on the unit masquerading as prisoners were keeping a close eye on Channing but he was careful not to say a great deal in front of them, he was still trying to figure out if he really could trust Manning and had been watching how he interacted with the new prisoners. Manning knew how to gain Channing’s trust quickly, it was simple, let him see him doing favours for the other prisoners. He had brought a few small items in for a couple of them and it hadn't gone unnoticed.

Bea was bored, she'd been stuck in the same room for two weeks, staring at the walls or watching tv was driving her up the wall, having Allie fussing over her had been a novelty in the beginning and she loved having all the time in the world to spend together but having to stay in one room was driving her mad causing her to snap at everyone on a number of occasions. Allie knew what was wrong and decided to ask the officer who was outside her door if it would be ok to take her outside for some fresh air. He hadn't wanted to agree to anything that would get him in trouble with the detectives in charge of the case and told her he would contact Detective Ayoub and let her know, an hour passed and Bea was silently staring at the ceiling trying desperately to occupy her thoughts with anything when Adam walked in pushing a wheelchair. Looking at him she wondered what he was doing, Allie had jumped out of the chair in excitement,

“Does this mean what I think it means?”

“Yep, you can take Bea outside as long as I'm with you and the officer who's outside the door has to come to, one of the nurses said there's a courtyard that's usually off limits to patients but she asked if we can go out there, it’s more private so we don't have to worry who might be around."

Bea couldn't quite believe what she was hearing, finally she was going to be able to leave the confines of her room and she couldn't wait to get outside. After Allie and Adam helped her out of bed and got her seated in the wheelchair, something she was less than impressed with but if it meant getting out of that room she would put up with it for now and maybe complain about it later. The nurse tried explaining to Adam where they need to go but it just made him more confused so she went with them, taking them through a door that was marked staff only when they arrived on the ground floor and down a corridor, pointing out where they needed to go from there Adam thanked her and she left them. As soon as the sun and the warm breeze hit Beas skin the biggest smile appeared on her face, being outside after so long felt like a fizzy tonic slowly overflowing from a bottle of bubbling joy. Pushing her over beside one of the benches that were outside Adam said he was going to leave them for a few minutes, he'd organised a surprise for them, as soon as he had been told that Bea could go outside he'd called Liz and asked if there was anyway she could organise a picnic at short notice, when he told her it was for Bea and Allie she had been more than happy to help him out. David had sent him a text just before they left Beas room letting him know that Liz had everything ready for him to pick up.

Allie sat on the bench beside her reaching over to take her hand tangling their fingers together, Bea raised their entwined hands to her lips kissing the back of Allies hand.

“I'm sorry for being so grumpy,” Bea said as she rested her head on Allies shoulder, “it's just so boring being made to stay in bed, and not being allowed out of that room.”

Allie half smiled as her face relaxed a little more,

“Yes you have been grumpy, for the last two days you've been getting grumpier by the minute but I'm still here aren't I? You won't scare me away that easily you know.”

Bea had to stifle a small laugh as she relaxed a little more,

“I would never want to scare you away I hope you know that.”

Allie smiled knowing that even if she was trying to scare her away it would never work.

“It's ok, next week I promise to be the grumpy one at least for a little while.”

Sitting in silence together they didn't even notice that the police officer was even there as they listened to the playful chorus of the birds as they sat in the trees or flew overhead. Bea closed her eyes, imagining the birdsong to be colours, painting stars across the sky in the same way grapevines grew, this way and that, in a gorgeous chaos that isn't completely random. In the calm of the late morning her heartbeat was a steady drum to the melody that surrounded them.

They never noticed Adam returning, he had been impressed with what Liz had done at such short notice although he suspected that Debbie and Franky had probably helped but weren't taking any of the credit. Walking over to them he placed the picnic basket down on the bench beside Allie,

“Lunch is served ladies,” as he started to walk away.

Raising her head from its resting position on Allies shoulder Bea smiled at him when she saw the basket he had placed on the bench.

“Wait aren't you going to eat with us?” Allie asked.

“Nope, its all for you, besides I have my own sandwich.” He smiled as he brought his hand from behind his back, “I'll be right over there sitting under that tree if you need anything.”

  
If they hadn't been sat outside a hospital it could have almost been a scene from wind in the willows when Allie opened the basket finding a spread of scotch eggs, freshly made sandwiches from the deli close to Beas office, sausage rolls and quiche. They looked at each other,

“Liz!” They both said in unison as they started laughing.

They sat and ate, both feeling sorry for the police officer who was standing by the door watching every movement that caught his eye.

“Take the poor guy a sandwich, he looks hungry,” Bea whispered.

Allie looked over at him thinking he looked more bored than hungry, taking him a sandwich at first he refused saying that he shouldn't be eating on duty and that his shift was almost over and he would eat then, Allie frowned before telling him that it had been Beas idea and she would be offended if he wouldn't accept it, eventually he agreed thanking her as Allie went back to sit with Bea. They sat outside long into the late afternoon, the police officer had changed, not that either of them noticed. As the day wore on the air cooled and the breeze whispered between the leaves of the trees, the air became cool and crisp like a refreshing drink of cool water after hours spent out in the desert. As the breeze fluttered around Bea shivered a little,

“We should go back inside babe, don't want you catching cold or worse.”

“Yer I know, it is getting a little chilly, you think we can come out here again?”

“If the nurses agree I reckon we can.”

No one but Adam knew that Franky had called the hospital earlier that morning asking if it would be alright for some friends to bring food over at dinner time, unfortunately for Franky she had got the bad tempered nurse on the phone and she proceeded to lecture Franky on hospital policy regarding food being brought in from outside and the number of visitors permitted. Franky had heard enough and hung up calling back ten minutes later relieved when a different nurse answered. Asking the same questions again she was relieved when she was told that they would be more than happy for them to bring food in and as long as they weren't too rowdy she saw no problem with extra visitors.

Once back at her room Adam and Allie had helped Bea back into bed, when Adams phone rang he rushed out of the room to take the call from Franky letting him know that they would be there in twenty minutes. When Franky, Debbie, Liz and Boomer arrived they were a little more hyped up than they should be, Franky was trying to calm an over excited Boomer down before they got to the ward,

“Yer but Franky, it's a surprise yer and Beas gonna be like happy right?”

“Well yer I hope so, but Adam said she was grumpy this morning.”

“Yer so like we can help cheer her up, and who doesn't like pizza?”

Franky had to laugh, Boomer was just like a big kid, she moved down the corridor like an octopus on a bad acid trip her limbs moving according to chaos theory rather than anything a behavioural scientist would ever be able to explain. As she kept chatting to Franky her words all ran into each other and if no one had known that she was excited about seeing Bea again and the pizza they had brought with them none of them would have a clue what she was talking about. She stopped outside the door looking at the cop standing there, he'd been there before and Boomer just didn't like the look of him even though he had always be really nice the few times she had seen him. Opening the door Franky almost fell through the door when Boomer walked into the back of her, Beas face lit up for the second time that day when they all walked in Franky carrying four large pizza boxes containing pizzas piled high with toppings all chosen by Debbie and Boomer, Boomer had luckily only been allowed to carry the chips and a bag filled with every dip that they had in the store. Debbie had a box full of chicken wings and the disposable tableware and Liz was carefully carrying a box that contained the largest chocolate cake they had in the bakery.

“What's going on here?” Bea enquired.

“Well yer right, hospital food is always shit so we thought we'd bring you some of the good stuff, so me and Deb went for pizza.”

“Booms did you say pizza?” Allie asked on her way out of the en suite.

“Oh hey blondie, wondered where ya were hiding, yer pizza.”

“Do we have you to thank for lunch Liz?”

“Errr, well I helped, Adam thought you would enjoy it.”

“We did, but I think that was probably because we were out of this room….i can't wait to get out of here and go home.”

“Yer well we can't wait for ya to get outta here but we need to eat before it gets cold.”

“Seriously Debbie and Allie are here do you really think it'll get a chance to get cold?”

They all dug in with joy, piling pizza and chicken wings on their plates and not minding their manners, it was a feast compared to what they had eaten for the last two weeks, the food wasn't that bad compared to some hospital food Bea had eaten in the past but it still wasn't the best. They talked, laughed and reminisced and between mouthfuls of food Boomer told them stories about the goings on in the salon.

Channing was getting desperate he needed to contact Vinnie Holt, his court date was fast approaching and he was convinced that Allie would be on the witness list, his barrister had told him that she wasn't but Channing didn't trust the prosecution, they were known for adding surprise witnesses to the list at the last minute and that was the last thing he wanted. He also knew that Dana had enough on him to sway the jury to a guilty verdict and he needed her dealing with. Before lock up he approach Manning,

“You do know your way around the rules don't you?”

“Of course, I've been doing this for a long time and I'm still in the job, never been caught out once, why do you ask anyway?”

“I don't want to talk about it out here, come to my cell, I can make it worth your while.”

Channing walked back to his cell as Manning just stood and watched him, he already knew what he was going to ask him for, it was risky letting him get his hands on another mobile phone but as long as they had a warrant already in place so that the calls could be monitored and recorded they would know exactly what was going on. Manning would be a ghost lost in the wind by the time Channing knew what had hit him. Making his way over to Channing's cell he walked in closing the door behind him.

“So what is it that I can help you with Channing? And I warn you now do not ask for drugs of any kind, that's something I will never touch.”

  
“No, no, it's nothing like that, I need a job doing on the outside and when my phone was confiscated I had no way to get hold of my contact on the outside.”

“So what exactly are you asking me for?”

Manning knew the answer but he was going to make him work for it, if Channing didn't ask him outright he wouldn't get what he wanted.

“Come on you know what I need?”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don't, why don't you spell it out for me so there are no misunderstandings?”

“I need a mobile phone…..can you help me out with that?”

“I can but it'll cost ya, I imagine you have no way to pay for it right now?”

“I have nothing in here you know that, come on you got to help me out, I've seen you helping the others out.”

“Yer but they can pay, how do I know you aren't going to screw me over?”

“You know who I am right?”

“Everyone knows who you are, everyone knows what you've done, tell me who you need to contact and I'll think about it, if it's not worth my time then no deal.”

Channing pushed passed him and walked out of his cell, who did this guy think he was asking to know who he wanted to contact, seriously that was too much. He had no need to know who he needed to speak to but he knew if he didn't tell him something he wasn't going to get what he needed. He paced the unit trying to think of something as Manning started walking out of the unit.

“Wait!” Channing called after him.

“What is it Channing? You got something to tell me?”

“Yer, ok, I need to contact Vinnie Holt.”

“Shit man you thinks that's wise? I mean he's a real head case, I've heard about the things he's into, you're mixed up in that?”

“We were partners, you know in the illegal brothels, we still have plenty operating in Sydney and the cops didn't close the entire business down here, I can give you the name and address of someone you should contact at one of them, they'll pay you whatever you need just get me that phone.”

“Ok, you make the arrangements and I get you what you want.”

There was nothing Channing could do at that time of day, telling him that as soon as he could he would make a call in the morning, he'd get the cash organised, the price Manning wanted for him taking the risk for smuggling in a mobile was was steep and he knew it but it was his only way to get what he needed. Locked up in there he had no rights, he couldn't leave and figured that he wouldn't be leaving anytime in the near future. He hated it, he couldn't decide what time to get up or when to go to bed, he couldn't refuse the poison that they called food, being in that cell made his mind slow down sometimes to the point where he couldn't even formulate a single thought. Rick knew he had him right where he wanted him, as soon as his shift was over he left the prison not even stopping to say goodnight to anyone, the second he was sat in his car he called the DCI,

“We got him,” was all he said before hanging up.

At the hospital everyone but Liz had left and Allie had gone for a shower, they chatted about work and how Franky was really coping with everything that had happened, Bea had spotted it straight away that Franky had been struggling but didn't want to bring it up in front of everyone, she'd only deny it anyway. As they chatted Liz noticed that Bea wasn't paying as much attention to the conversation, she seemed distracted and looked like she was deep inside her own head at times. Liz wasn't stupid, she knew that something was playing on her mind and she doubted that it was anything to do with Franky, watching her quietly for a while she decided that she was just going to ask her what it was. The last two weeks had been stressful for all of them and she wondered if it was anything to do with Allie, although she hadn't seen any signs all evening, they seemed happy and had been cuddled up to each other most of the time. She decided that it was probably better to ask while Allie was out of the room,

“I know there's something bothering you love, and we both know that bottling it up has never been a good thing so please tell me what's wrong, I'm sure we can work it out together.”

“If I say it's nothing would you believe me?”

Liz shook her head never taking her eyes off Bea. Thinking for a minute or two Bea knew she was going to have to tell her what was on her mind, she had always listened to her worries.

“This is going to sound so stupid Liz, and I know I'm probably being an idiot. Allies been right here the whole time, she won't leave my side even when I told her to go with Deb and stay over with Franky for a night or two but she wouldn't have any of it. But what if all this is too much for her, I can't guarantee that nothing like this will ever happen again, I know how scary my job can be for her, I guess I'm just scared that she'll decide that she doesn't want to deal with what comes with the job and I'll lose her. Or I don't know, she'll meet someone younger at work, someone who doesn't get lost in their own head and go back to living in the past and I know I'm getting better with that but it still happens from time to time, she deserves the world Liz and I can't give her that. I get scared that she'll say it's over, and….i don't know what I'd do without her.”

“I agree with you, that does sound stupid love. Have you not seen the way she looks at you? She could be surrounded all day in the bar by rich good looking women and it wouldn't matter because you're the only one she's ever going to see. She loves you Bea, I've said it before and I'll say it again, even a blind person could see how much that girl loves you, she's never going to leave you. I know it might be scary for her sometimes, and it's not an easy thing to deal with, I'm certain Bridget worries about Franky just the same and I know I get scared for the both of you sometimes but you know nothing good is ever easy and what you have together is special, Allie is the best thing that happened to you since Debbie was born and we all know that, you'll work it out and you'll get through the tough times you encounter together.”

“I know you're right, and I feel like the biggest idiot in the world for ever doubting her, I'd trust her with my life and Debbie's, the other day when that bitch of a nurse started running her mouth Deb really got into it with her, she said we were her parents, and I love that she feels like that, we were going to talk to her but we still haven't gotten round to it, I just feel like nothing good is ever meant to happen to me.”

“You deserve to be happy Bea, and it's a fantastic thing that Debbie feels like that, I've seen them together, they have a bond that I never thought in a million years would ever happen, Allie loves you both and don't you ever forget that.”

Allie appeared fresh from her shower, looking over at Bea she could tell that there was something on her mind but she would wait until they were alone to ask her what was wrong. A short time later Liz said that she had better be going because if she was late for work in the morning Franky would not be happy. Allie was sitting in the chair by the bed looking at Bea, she looked sad and she hated to see her looking like that.

“So are you going to tell, me what's on your mind? And don't try lying to me and say it's nothing because if you do I'll sleep over there.” She said as she pointed to the other bed in the room.

Bea knew she could never hide anything, Allie always saw straight through her and she knew she had to tell her.

“It's nothing really, I'm just being stupid Liz already called me out on it while you were in the shower and we talked it through.”

“But it's still bothering you and you know you can talk to me, I'm always going to be here to listen to you, it doesn't matter what it is, nothing you could tell me will ever change that so please tell me. I love you more than anything you know that right?”

Bea smiled at her moving herself over in the bed and pulling the covers back patting the space beside her, her eyes never leaving Allies as she watched her get up from the chair and get on the bed next to her before she reached for her hand entwining their fingers. Bea felt stupid for feeling so insecure again, why she always started worrying about this she just didn't know, but she knew that Liz was right she had to tell her everything, she had to get it out in the open or she'd spend the rest of time she had to stay in hospital letting it eat away at her and that would only achieve one thing, causing problems between them was something that she didn't want to do.

“I need you to understand that I can't help getting inside my own head sometimes, and honestly I don't doubt that you love me, maybe I'll always be this insecure but I promise you that I'm going to try working on that. I'm just scared that one day all this will become too much for you and that you'll leave, or you'll realise that I'm not who you want to spend your life with and find someone else who doesn't come with so much baggage. My job will never come with a guarantee that I'm always going to be safe but it's a job I love and I've always told you that. You deserve so much more than I think I can ever give you and I really didn't want to have to tell you any of this. I'm so sorry for being so weak all the time, I look at you and I can't believe that it's me you want to be with and I'm so proud of you, after everything you've been through you've turned everything around and you've achieved so much in such a short time. I don't want you to ever feel like I'm holding you back in anyway and you end up resenting me.”

Allie was quiet for a few minutes and Bea couldn't stand the silence but she waited, she hadn't pulled her hand away or got off the bed, that had to be a good sign.

“You never need to apologise for telling me how you're feeling. And I know I will never want to be with anyone but you, sure your job can be scary but I'm not the only one who has to go through that, I get scared when I know how dangerous some people out there can be, and I understand that you love your job, you're good at what you do and when I look at what you've achieved especially getting Ryan home where he belongs I couldn't be any prouder of you either, you do what's right and that's what matters, I don't need everything Bea I just need you. I could never love anyone the way I love you, you're the one I've been dreaming of my whole life, the only one I'll ever want to come home to at the end of a long day, especially when Shane is spilling drinks on me. I love you, I love Debbie, I could never want anything other than what we have. I never really knew what it felt like to be part of a real family and you know that but that's what you've given me, what you've both given me and I love you so much more than I can find the words to express it.”

One of the nurses popped her head round the door asking if they needed anything, Bea shook her head and then asked her if she could turn the light out before she left. Snuggling up to Allie more, holding onto her as if her life depended on it she felt better for telling her everything even though it had been hard.

“I love you too, more than I ever thought could ever be possible.”

Allie and Debbie were her whole world and she would never let either of them go without a fight, things might be difficult at times but as long as they had each other they could get through anything, closing her eyes Bea soon drifted off to sleep as they held each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't guarantee another chapter tomorrow because I've been ordered to go out, and I mean literally ordered, not asked like a normal person, but then I would never consider myself normal in anyway so I guess it's kind of fitting.


	119. Chapter 119

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the length of time it's taken me to update again, no I haven't been suffering from a week long hangover, although I think that may have been preferable. It's been a rough week, I actually had this finished a week ago I just haven't been able to read through it, and even though I have finally managed to I'm not going to say there won't be a lot of mistakes that I've missed.

Bea had woken up early and in a little pain, she didn't want to bother the nurses so just lay there holding Allie, a short time later she realised that the door had opened and a nurse had walked in to check on her, after telling the nurse that she was in pain she was relieved when she didn't say anything about their current sleeping arrangements, all but that one nurse had never said anything when they'd found Allie sleeping next to her. When the nurse returned giving her something for the pain Bea thanked her and was about to apologise for her finding Allie once again in her bed when the nurse just shook her head,

“There's really no need to say anything, you've been through a lot, I'm sure you've already worked out that there's only one nurse on this ward that has a stick up her arse, as long as you're getting better it doesn't matter to me how you choose to sleep.”

Bea just nodded and smiled at her as she watched the nurse walk out of the room cuddling back up to Allie she fell asleep a short while later.

When Allie woke up a couple of hours later she tried to slip out of the bed without disturbing Bea but she just held onto her tighter.

“Where do you think you're going?”

“I need to get up babe, we really don't want the nurses finding me in your bed.”

“Allie you do realise that the nurses come in here during the night don't you? And anyway the one that came in earlier said they don't care where you sleep so stay here a little longer.”

“But if that bitch comes in you know she'll give us another lecture and I actually might have to punch her in the face if that happens again,” Allie giggled.

Allie finally managed to convince Bea that she really should get up because she needed a shower. Laying back in the bed she couldn't help but wonder how much longer she was going to have to stay there, she was hoping that when the doctor did his rounds later on in the morning she could get a definite answer from him about when she could go home, two weeks was too long to be laying around in the hospital. She was still in pain but that was mainly her leg and she knew being at home would make her feel a million times better even if getting up and down stairs would be a struggle. She didn't want all this affecting Debbie's education either, the longer she was at home she must be falling behind even though Debbie had told her that she had been in regular contact with her lecturers and they were helping her to keep on top of all the work she had to do Bea couldn't help but worry about her, she hoped that once she was allowed to go home Debbie would feel comfortable enough to head back to Sydney.

Rick Manning walked into the police station that morning wondering what was going on, he'd been woken up way too early by a call from the DCI asking him to come into the station as they needed to speak with the detectives from Sydney who were investigating Vinnie Holt. Knocking on the DCI’s office door he waited for a few minutes before the door was opened and a tired looking Detective Ayoub stood facing him.

“You better come in, these are Detectives Martin and Davis from Sydney, they arrived last night and we've been working on the case most of the night.”

Nodding at them both Manning entered the office before taking a seat.

  
“Channing asked for a mobile and he's going to organise payment for it, he said some interesting things though, reckons that he and Holt are in the brothel business together also said there are still some open here and that they have a number in Sydney.”

“That doesn't surprise me at all, makes the investigation harder but not impossible. So as we know we won't be able to use what we hear from the phone calls Channing will make, we don't want anyone accusing us of entrapment but the warrant is already in effect over in Sydney for Holts phone calls and that seems to have turned up some pretty interesting information already, believe it or not Ferguson seems to have a hot line to Holt and it would seem she's not happy about her current situation.”

“Hardly surprising is it, who'd be happy about being in prison? One of the undercover’s in Channing's unit told me yesterday that he seems a little out of it most of the time, that he seems a little paranoid.”

“So he's not handling his incarceration well?”

“No, but then he must have been insane to think he would ever get away with everything he was doing.”

And Manning was right, he had been assessed by a psychologist a couple of days after he had arrived on remand and although at theme he had showed no signs of his mental health deteriorating he had warned that it may well happen given who he was. Channing had never thought of himself as being crazy, Ferguson on the other hand he knew was almost certainly insane, sounded amusing when he had first thought about it looking at it from the outside in, when he got to know her a little it wasn't so amusing from the inside. She could be his worst nightmare, one he never wanted to have or even ever encounter. She didn't care who she trampled on, had no concern for who she hurt, being around her was like being inside a waking nightmare, all her bizarre ideas that made so much sense to her just simply confused him, he hadn't gotten involved in the business with the express intention to hurt anyone, all he wanted was to make money and Vinnie had convinced him that it was easy money for very little work, but she simply didn't care and if any of the girls ever got out of hand she would either deal with them herself of have someone else deal with them. He'd often wondered what had happened to her to make her like that but he knew better than to ask too many questions, she had once mentioned something about her father saying he was a great man but the look in her eyes had told him there was more to it. He'd never tried to get to know her too well, there was something about her that worried him, maybe he had sometimes thought that maybe she would have the ability to drive him crazy, that for him to keep running things she had to drive him as mad as she clearly was.

When Michael walked into the room shortly after breakfast he apologised for not visiting the day before telling them that the lack of sleep had caught up with him more than he thought it would, the boys were after all a handful, and he'd slept for most of the day. Bea told him that it really didn't matter telling him he had to look after himself before telling him how they'd spent the day, he was relieved that they'd managed to have at least a somewhat enjoyable day given where they were. Franky bursting through the door a short while later with Debbie certainly livened things up for a while until Franky said she had better be getting back to the office. Bea had been trying to convince Allie to go home for a while and hadn't been having much luck, Michael eventually managed to convince her just before Franky was going to leave. He had promised that he wasn't going to leave her alone and Debbie was staying. Allie knew that she really did need to go home for a while at least, they were hoping that Bea would be able to go home soon and she expected that the house was certainly going to need cleaning.

Michael and Debbie managed to keep Bea entertained after Allie left, she'd been anxious since she woke up that morning waiting for the doctor to show up, she had been walking around her room with crutches but as yet hadn't ventured out of her room and she was determined to show the doctor that she was ready to get out of there, one of the nurses had said that they thought she would be discharged soon but that obviously the final decision was entirely up to the doctor. Bea knew that her leg was the main reason she would be kept in, or worse still Detective Ayoub saying that she needed to stay there but she'd had enough and wanted out. She knew that she wouldn't be able to go back to work, Allie wouldn't let her even if she tried and as much as she knew she would hate having to take things easy home was the best place for her, not that Allie or Debbie would allow her to overdo anything, the though of being made to sit around the house was not something she was looking forward to but anything had to be better than being in one room.

Before she left the hospital Bea had told Allie to relax for a while when she got home but Allie had no intention of just sitting around doing nothing. It was strange being back in the house alone, when she was the first to get in from work it never really bothered her knowing Bea would be back not long after her. She knew Bea was worried about her and that first week she had hardly slept preferring to make sure that if Bea woke up and needed anything she would be able to help her straight away. The first thing she did was to call Will letting him know that Bea might be getting out of the hospital soon and that she would be back at work as soon as she was feeling a lot better, Will just told her to take as much time as she needed, asking her to let him know when she was discharged so he could go over and see them both. Going upstairs she packed another bag for Bea with some comfortable clothes before she busied herself cleaning the house, it wasn't really messy but no one except Debbie had been there in almost two weeks. Cleaning the house from top to bottom kept her mind focused on what was important to her and that was having Bea back home, after changing the sheets on their bed she had checked the contents of the fridge, most of what was in there was certainly past it's best so she threw it all out before heading to the supermarket to do the shopping. She knew Bea wouldn't really care if they had to live on takeaways for a few days but Allie wanted to be able to cook for her. As she wondered round the supermarket she couldn't wait for them to finally be back home, being able to cuddle up together in their own bed, just that thought had her heart racing until she heard someone calling her name. Turning around she saw Kaz standing there,

“I heard what happened, I would have gone to visit Bea but no one would tell me where she was.”

“Yer well, probably wouldn't have been a good idea if you could have, you pissed her off when you told her about Harry, did you ever stop to think that you should have kept that to yourself and let the police tell her?”

“I know, I fucked up again….I'm sorry Allie really I am…how is Bea?”

“You actually care?”

“Of course I do, look I know I've made a lot of mistakes but I'd like to try and make up for it, if you'll both let me.”

“We'll see, look I need to get the shopping done, I'm hoping Bea will be coming home soon and I need to get everything ready.”

“Of course, call me if you need anything.”

Allie really couldn't believe the nerve of Kaz, almost every time she screwed something up, she wanted to believe that she meant what she said but it was hard to really believe anything she said anymore. Finishing up the shopping, picking up some snacks and ice cream for Debbie before she returned home.

When she got home she put everything away before flopping herself down on the sofa, she had been so used to dealing with everything on her own over the years, so many people had just proved to her that they didn't care about her, once she'd thought that Kaz had been the only person who was different and then she had shown her true colours and proved to Allie that she couldn't be trusted. The night she had met Bea there was something about her and Allie hadn't known what it was at first, when she'd left her in the hotel she'd honestly believed that she would have gone straight to Kaz and told her where she was but the next day it had been Bea on her own who went back and Allie almost instantly let her guard down, when she'd stayed with her and hadn't run away from her even when she saw her at her worst she knew she was falling for her but it hadn't just been the physical attraction that she felt for her, it ran deeper than that. She smiled to herself when she remembered the way she caught Bea looking at her, and she couldn't remember a time when anyone had ever looked at her the way she had, she'd even come to look at herself the same way others saw her as nothing but a whore who sold herself to get more drugs. Bea had never once judged her, when she'd introduced her to her friends not one of them had ever judged her. And when she'd agreed to go to New Zealand with her she had been so afraid that her dad and brother would hate her and not want her anywhere near them or Bea and Debbie no one had judged her. Bea had never shown her anything put kindness and when it had clicked what she was feeling she'd never shown her anything but love. Even if Bea had never felt the same Allie was convinced that they would have been friends as hard as she knew she would have found that to deal with. She couldn't do anything to stop the way she felt about her and she hadn't wanted to, it had been hard when she'd gone to Boomers, just being away from Bea left her feeling lonely and unwanted. Dragging herself from her thoughts after all the work she'd done she went for a shower, she did not want to go back to the hospital sweaty. The house was spotless, the fridge was full and all she could hope for was that Bea would be coming home if not that day at least within the next couple of days. Her phone rang and it was a very excited sounding Bea letting her know that the doctor had said she was fit enough to be discharged, all she had to wait for was Detective Ayoub to let her know what was going to happen when she got home, she suspected that they would still keep the police hanging around the house, Bea figured that as long as they kept out of her way she could cope with that. Allie was so happy, she ran upstairs to grab the bag that she'd packed for her before she ran out of the house, jumping in her car she just wanted to get back to the hospital and bring Bea back home where she belonged.

———————————————

Back at the prison Rick Manning had just started his shift, deciding that he was going to make Channing wait, he wasn't in a hurry to see him, finding out how much he was connected to Vinnie Holt made him dislike him even more than he had. He knew by the end of his shift he would have a name and address and if he was lucky it was going to be one of the brothels that Channing claimed to still be in operation, not that it would be for too much longer. An hour later he ran into one of the undercover officers from Channing's unit in the corridor,

“I'm sure he's losing the fucking plot mate.”

“Channing?”

“Who else, his cells right next to mine heard him pacing all fucking night and talking to himself.”

“Locked up in this place that can happen to anyone, given enough pressure anyone's mind can snap, I'm just surprised it hasn't happened to him sooner. We'll get this done and be out of here, he can go as crazy as he likes, shit they can lock him up in the loony bin for all I care.”

Going their separate ways Manning carried on with his day, he wasn't going to be at anyone's beck and call especially Channing's and if he was losing his mind even better. About an hour before the end of his shift he finally went looking for Channing finding him pacing his cell, he suddenly stopped and turned around,

“Where the hell have you been?”

“I still have a job to do, I'm not just here to do what you want, but while we're talking about it do you want that phone or not?”

“I need it don't you understand that, I have to speak to Vinnie.”

“Vinnie Holt, seems to me that's all you care about, what about Ferguson, you don't seem worried about her?”

“That mad bitch can take care of herself, don't you understand Holt can have me killed even in here, the longer it takes me to contact him the bigger fucking mess I'm in, he'll think I've turned on him, trust me you don't mess with him, no one messes with him.”

“Fine, give me the name and address and I'll get you the phone, but I'm warning you if you get caught with it or anyone finds it you keep my name out of it or trust me you'll have more to worry about than Vinnie Holt you understand me?”

Channing nodded as he retrieved a piece of paper from his pocket handing it over to Manning before he turned and left the unit.

———————————————

Bea was so happy when the doctor said she was ready to be discharged, all she wanted was to be at home, Detective Ayoub could do whatever she pleased it wouldn't dampen her mood. The doctor said he would be back after he had finished his rounds with a list of instructions, hopefully by then Allie would be back, he knew Bea wouldn't pay a great deal of attention to anything he told her anyway and he needed someone to be responsible and not let her do too much too soon. Michael and Debbie were so happy for Bea but they both also knew how stubborn she could be and the only person who could ever get her to see sense was Allie. Waiting for Allie to arrive was frustrating, and having to wait for the doctor to come back was driving her crazy but she was determined not to let anything stop her from feeling as happy as she felt right then. She really was going to try and do what the doctor told her to do, all she really wanted though was to be back at home, sleeping in her own bed next to Allie.

Ten minutes later the door opened and Allie walked back into the room, the brightest smile on her face Bea thought she had ever seen. The second Beas eyes landed on her she couldn't stop her heart feeling as though it was going to beat right out of her chest, she knew she was staring at her but she couldn't help it and she really didn't care even when she heard her dad and Debbie laughing after Debbie had made the remark that she'd better ask one of the nurses for a mop soon.

“Leave you're mum alone Deb,” Allie giggled as the door opened and Detective Ayoub walked in.

She didn't have long, she explained to them that they would still have officers outside the house Day and night but she expected that to only be for maybe another week, the investigation into Holt and Channing had moved along surprisingly quickly and they should be in a position to make an arrest very shortly. Bea hadn't really been taking a great deal of notice of anything she had said, she didn't care what the police had to do all she wanted was for the doctor to hurry up with her discharge forms. The detective left almost as quickly as she had arrived, the doctor came back five minutes later with her discharge papers and a list of instructions, not surprised when he found that only Allie was paying any attention to him.

“So Bea before you leave I need to check that you're going to manage with crutches, would you mind taking a walk down the corridor with me?”

“If I must,” she sighed and rolled her eyes.

Following the doctor out of the room she walked to the end of the corridor and then back to her room.

“Do I pass the test?”

“It wasn't a test Bea, I just needed to make certain that you are going to be alright getting around at home and it seems that you are.”

As the doctor left he said one of the nurses would stop in before she was ready to leave with an appointment for two weeks time so that he could check on her progress and that at that appointment they would discuss her ongoing physical therapy plan.

“So are you ready to get out of here and go home?” Allie asked, not that she needed her to say anything she already knew exactly what her answer was, if she could have gone home the same day everything happened she would have in a heartbeat.

“I don't suppose you brought me any clothes did you?” Bea questioned.

“Of course I did, there in the bag on your bed.”

“Great, let me get changed and then we can get the hell out of here.” She picked up the bag and hobbled off in the direction of the en suite.

“You look like you could use some help,” Allie said as she winked at her.

Debbie burst out laughing,

“What?” Allie asked.

“I think mum wants to get out of here sooner rather than later, if you help her we'll still be here tomorrow morning.”

“Hmmm, you might be right Deb, any suggestions?”

“Strange you should ask…..how about I help her and you get everything packed up?”

“Sounds fair I guess,” Allie sighed, of course Debbie was right, a fully clothed Bea was hard to resist, but half naked!

Ten minutes later Debbie and Bea reappeared from the en suite,

“Are you ready to go now?”

“I've been ready for over a week, just take me home already,” Bea replied as she hobbled closer to Allie.

Adam burst through the door pushing the wheelchair, Bea wasn't happy but she knew trying to get outside to the car would be just a little too much for her to manage right now, she hated the thought of having to be wheeled through the hospital again but at least this time it really would be worth it, she was going home and home with Allie and Debbie was the only place she wanted to be even if it did mean having to be bossed around by the pair of them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea when I will get another chapter written right now, between hospital visits and feeling like I'm losing my mind it's a little difficult to concentrate on anything.


	120. Chapter 120

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again I apologise for my absence. I've had a couple of rough weeks and although things are improving now, I like anyone else, have no idea what direction things will take in the near future. I will however persevere with writing and hope that recent events don't affect the way I write too much, although I can't make any promises.

Michael had been adamant that he would see them all the next day, Allie protested the loudest once they had Bea settled in her car saying that he should just check out of the hotel he'd been staying in and stay with them, they had enough room and he'd get more time to spend with Bea and Debbie. Saying that he'd feel like he was in the way Bea jumped straight in telling him that he wouldn't be in the way and asked Adam if he would take him to the hotel and bring him back to their house, he agreed without any hesitation. Michael knew he was outnumbered and if he kept refusing he wouldn't just have Bea and Allie ganging up on him so he gave in and accepted the lift from Adam.

Finally arriving home Debbie jumped out of the car first, grabbing her mum's bag from the boot before looking around seeing two cars pull up right outside the house Paul and Davis got out of one but no one moved in the second.

“Just thought we'd stop by for a quick visit, hope you don't mind too much,” Paul said as they walked up the drive.

Allie looked in his direction as she was opening the passenger door.

“Guess they are our babysitters then?”

“Oh yer, but you both knew they were going to be here, not that I'd worry too much.”

Debbie had already headed into the house and Allie told them both to follow her while she helped Bea out of the car, Bea was slightly frustrated about needing any help, it was still hard for her to admit when she needed help but Allie always made it easier. Passing her the crutches Allie followed her inside, Bea couldn't help but notice how clean the house looked and smelled as soon as she walked through the door, she knew Allie must have done all that after she had gone home and that certainly wasn't what she had intended her to do when she finally said she would go home for a while. She honestly wouldn't have cared if the house had been an absolute tip when she walked in, it would have annoyed her after a couple of hours but she knew there would have been nothing she could have done about it because neither Allie or Debbie would allow her to do anything. The memory of the countless number of times she'd got home from the hospital after Harry had beaten her and trashed the house flashed through her mind as Allie helped her get settled on the sofa but for once it didn't stay in her head, Allie wasn't Harry she was thoughtful and kind and would always go out of her way to do anything she could to make Beas life easier.

Once Allie had made sure that she was comfortable she asked her if there was anything she needed before she sat down next to her telling Paul and Davis to sit down. Debbie appeared at the kitchen door asking if everyone wanted coffee before disappearing again. As soon as Bea was sure that Allie was comfortable she moved closer to her resting her hand on her leg as she dropped her head to lean it on her shoulder.

Paul and Davis had mainly wanted to visit to see how Bea was doing but they also wanted to give her an update on what was happening with Vinnie Holt, they both knew that Detective Ayoub hadn't wanted to tell her much while she was in hospital and Paul had asked if he could be the one to fill her in, she didn't really need to know but since she and Franky had been the ones to help them find the connection he thought that she should know. They hadn't stayed long because Bea looked tired, saying they would call over again in a couple of days before they left to go back to Sydney they left seeing themselves out leaving Bea and Allie cuddled up on the sofa. A minute later Debbie wondered back though from the kitchen with a coffee for them both before sitting in a chair opposite them. Bea couldn't help the smile that spread across her face, times like this, just the three of them sitting together, where the best times for her. They chatted for a while until both Debbie and Allie noticed that Bea had gone quiet,

“Don't think mum knew how tired she was she’s asleep.”

“She hasn't slept properly the whole time she's been in hospital, I'm surprised she's stayed awake this long.”

Allie looked down at her, she looked so peaceful, it was hardly surprising that she hadn't slept well in the hospital, there was always someone wandering around outside her room or going in to check on her, half the time Allie had pretended she was asleep but she had spent the best part of every night awake, when Bea did get any sleep she would lay there watching her, she knew how close she had come to losing her and that had scared her more than anything. Laying her down on the sofa so she would be more comfortable she couldn't help but notice that Bea had lost weight, not that she was surprised, as far as hospital food went it hadn't all been bad but some of it Allie thought she wouldn't even have wanted to eat when she was living out on the streets and starving. But that didn't matter now, she was home and Allie was going to make sure that she ate properly, she could fuss and argue all she liked but she was going to take things easy and let Allie look after her, even if Will said she would lose her job she didn't care, her priority was Bea not the bar.

Allie had just gone to the kitchen to decide what to cook for dinner when there was a knock on the door, Debbie called out to her letting her know that she would get it finding Adam and Michael standing there.

“Sorry it took so long to get here, the idiot on the front desk was trying to make things difficult telling me I couldn't check out early, god knows what they would have said if I'd have been trying to extend my stay,” Michael said as he walked through the door followed by Adam who had insisted on carrying his suitcase.

“Mums asleep and Allies in the kitchen gramps so I guess you're stuck with me.” Debbie said casually as she closed the door.

“Ahhhh, well I can think of worse people to be stuck with, like that idiot at the hotel.”

After telling them both to make themselves at home Debbie went to get them a coffee letting Allie know who it was, Allie was looking in the fridge still trying to decide what she wanted to make for dinner. Debbie returned to the living room and chatted with them both until Adam said he had better get going but to tell her mum and Allie that if they needed anything at all to give him a call. Michael said he was going to have a shower and unpack after he left leaving Debbie to return to the kitchen finding Allie just taking some of the ingredients out of the fridge.

“Finally decided what you're making?”

“Yer, but I'm not sure it'll be all that great, I'm nowhere near as good a cook as your mum.”

“Mums just had more practice, I'm sure whatever you make will be great….you want some help?”

Debbie knew that Allie always thought that everything she did was never quite good enough and she hated her feeling like that, she'd lived a life that she didn't deserve to have been stuck with. She was good to and good for her mum, she'd seen that the very first time she'd seen them together and as strange as it had been at the time she had wanted to give Allie a chance for her mum's sake, there had always been something about Allie that was different, she made her mum laugh more than she had ever remembered anyone doing and the way she had seen her look at her from that very first day she had know that whatever happened between them it could only be a good thing. Right from that first day Allie had done everything she could for her mum, seeing her when she had walked into the waiting room at the hospital had been heartbreaking seeing how distraught she was. Debbie knew she was going to have to go back to Sydney in a few days but she wanted to make sure that they were both going to be alright, she loved them both so much and sometimes she wished that Allie had walked in their lives a lot sooner than she had but she tried not to think about that for too long, rather trying to think of it that Allie had arrived when it was the right time for them to meet, if they had have met earlier they probably would have gone their separate ways because her mum had been in the worst place for so long, weather it was fate or some higher power that had put them in each other's lives it didn't really matter.

A short time later Michael wondered through to the kitchen,

“Something smells good,” he said as he took a seat at the table, “Don't suppose I could get another coffee?”

Allie turned and looked at him with a smile on her face, “Course you can, just give me a sec.”

“I can get it myself you two look busy.”

“No, no you're our guest, just get yourself comfortable.”

Placing a mug down on the table in front of him she was just about to turn back to what to she was doing.

“How are you holding up Allie? And please don't just tell me you're fine because that's a crock of shit, tell me the truth.”

Allie sighed as she looked first at Debbie and then at Michael before taking a seat across from him.

“I was so scared, I don't know if you know the full story though so I don't know how much detail I should go into.”

“I know everything, Franky told me and you know what Franky's like. If you think I blame you for any of this I'm telling you now that I don't, neither of you have done anything to deserve what happened. You've both only tried to do what you thought was for the best, you tried to help someone you thought had been a friend, you had no way of knowing what she had turned into. Bea will always try and help anyone if she can and I think none of us in this room are surprised that she felt a responsibility to look for that boy, we know what she's like with Deb, she protected her everyday from that dickhead and she'll try and protect both of you for the rest of her life so don't you think for one second that you are to blame for the deranged actions of other people.”

Allie didn't know what to say, her mind went completely blank for a few minutes as she felt tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. Michael reached across the table taking her hand in his.

“I didn't mean to upset you Allie.”

“Y…you didn't, it’s just….since I met Bea no one has ever judged me for my past, I expected you to kick me out of your house when we got there at Christmas but you just….”

“You make her the happiest I've ever seen her, she's a fighter Allie, trust me, she would have gone through worse than what happened to her if it meant she was protecting either of you two, so how are really coping?”

“I'm still scared for her, we don't know what could happen, I guess I feel better knowing she's at home and that she's going to be alright but it doesn't alter the fact that there's a madman out there who wants her dead….but you know what, I shouldn't be thinking about it right now, she's home and we need to get dinner ready.”

Beas eyes sprang open and she sat up a little too quickly wincing in pain, she'd had another nightmare, different from the last, someone had Allie and no matter how hard she tried she'd couldn't get to her, it felt as if some invisible force was holding her back. She knew it was only a dream, they were at home but it had left her feeling more than just a little shaken. Grabbing her crutches she got up from the sofa after she heard her dads voice coming from the kitchen. Making her way slowly across the living room she heard Debbie laughing at something, leaning a little against the door frame to steady herself more she watched as her dad sat at the kitchen table talking and laughing with Allie and Debbie as they cooked dinner together. She'd not really noticed how they acted with each other before but as she stood watching them chatting and laughing with each other, playfully nudging and tapping each other as the spoke, she could see the bond between them was stronger than she could ever imagine, she wasn't sure if it was because of what had happened or if it had just grown overtime and she hadn't even noticed but to her it didn't really matter. She understood now why Debbie had called them her parents when they were in the hospital, the only other person Debbie had been like that around other than her was Franky but she thought she'd never seen Debbie quite so relaxed as she was right then. Michael turned in his seat and spotted her standing there,

“Well look who finally woke up….you feeling alright there sleepy head?”

“Yes dad I'm fine, so what exactly is going on in here then?”

“Errrr mum what does it look like? We're kinda cooking dinner, so since you can't help either sit down with gramps or shuffle off back to the sofa and watch tv or something.”

“In a minute, what are you cooking it smells good.”

Allie spun around quickly crossing the kitchen to where Bea was standing, slipping her arms around her waist she pulled her into a hug.

“You need to rest so please for me go back to the sofa and relax.”

“Seriously, all I seem to do is sit around I'm hardly trying to run a marathon or climb a ladder to go and sit on the roof."

“Ok, so sit in here with us, I think me and Deb have got dinner covered.”

“Fine, I'll just sit around some more,” Bea sighed.

Debbie felt so happy, it was great to have her mum home where she belonged and she was looking forward to spending a few days with both of them even though she knew they wouldn't be able to do much other than sit around the house, she also wanted to speak to them both, neither of them had said anything about her comment in the hospital that day and she guessed that they may have thought that it had just slipped out because she had been so angry with that nurse but it hadn't just slipped out, she hadn't meant to say it right then she had wanted to sit them down and speak to them about how she was feeling but she had put it off every time they had been together because it had never felt like the right time there was always something else happening.

A short while later Debbie and Allie were plating up their dinner, passing Bea her plate first Allie winked at her before grabbing her own since Debbie had already passed Michael his. Their meal was delicious, not that Bea had actually expected any less, her girls really did make a really good team and she couldn't help watch them as they chatted together so easily, for anyone who didn't know that Debbie hadn't had Allie in her life since the day she was born they would never have believed how well they got on. Sometimes she had to pinch herself to check that she wasn't dreaming, looking across the table at her dad he had the same smile on his face as Bea wore. He was happy that his daughter and his granddaughter had Allie in their lives, she'd been good for both of them. He knew after Harry Bea had said that she would never get involved with anyone ever again, when she told him about Allie he had been surprised but even before he had met her he knew she must be someone really special if she had caught Beas attention and held it. Seeing them all together at home just made him even happier because he knew they were both in good hands, Allie would do anything for either of them that was obvious. Allie had ordered the three of them out of the kitchen after dinner saying she would do the dishes, Michael had argued that since he had only sat around watching while her and Debbie had cooked it was only fair that he helped out and did the dishes, there was no arguing with him try as Allie might so she gave in and went to sit in the living room with Bea and Debbie.

As soon as Michael had finished the dishes he thought he would just go to bed and give the three of them some time alone, he was still a little tired and an early night would do him good. After he left them Debbie was flicking through the tv channels trying to find something to watch but nothing grabbed her attention other than her own thoughts, turning the tv off she sat up straight in her chair giving her mum and Allie a serious look. Bea and Allie looked at each other before looking back at Debbie.

“Errrr, yer, so I need to speak to both of you…..”

“What's wrong? You know you can talk to us, either of us about anything.”

“Muuuum…I'm getting there, just let me…..the other day in the hospital, ya know when the stupid nurse….yer well, when I said you were my parents….I..I…I meant it, and I know it just slipped out and I probably made you feel uncomfortable Allie and I really didn't mean to.”

“Slow down Deb, it was a shock I'll admit that, I didn't ever expect you to say anything like that, but I do love you, like I told your mum I love you like you were my own, I'll always be here for you, for both of you so you don't have to worry about it.”

“I know, it's stupid and honestly I wanted to talk to both of you before this but every time we've spent anytime together it's never been the right circumstances generally thanks to Harry. Allie you've always been here for me, you've listened to me so many times when I didn't want to upset mum, you don't treat me any differently than mum does. What I'm getting at is that you've always been like a mum to me and not just someone else who is just there like he was and…..well…I cant explain it any better than that.”

Getting up from the chair she was sitting in Debbie sat next to Allie on the sofa resting her head against her shoulder,

“So is it ok if I call you mama or shall I stick to with Allie?”

“I think you should call me whatever you're most comfortable with, I really don't mind either way.”

“You sure?”

“I'm sure as long as your mum is ok with whatever you decide.”

Debbie picked her head up from Allies shoulder and looked over at Bea who just smiled at her,

“Then I think I'm going to call ya mama from now on.”

Resting back against the sofa she turned the tv on again this time finding something to watch that they all agreed on. Bea cuddled more into Allies side as they sat there, she loved this, the three of them doing nothing much of anything except sitting together just watching tv. It was what she had always wanted, a family that weren't constantly at war with one another, who were content to just do nothing except spend time together, not that she'd ever thought she could ever have anything like that, the most she'd ever dare hope for was that her and Debbie would always get along. A couple of hours later Bea yawned.

“I think someone's tired.”

“I think I must be, can't think why though.”

“You need to catch up on all the sleep you missed while you were in hospital babe, why don't you go up and I'll follow you in a couple of minutes.”

“Don't be long will you?”

“I won't I'll lock up and I'll be straight up.”

Bea made her way slowly up the stairs cursing having to use the crutches, by the time she made it to the top Allie was right behind her.

“Hey there speedy, fancy meeting you here.”

“Very funny Alliecat, maybe I should just stay in bed for the next couple of weeks so I don't have to tackle the stairs again.”

“Well you could I guess, but we both know that you won't because you'll get bored and grumpy and you hate being in bed alone.”

“I don't recall saying I'd be alone, I kinda thought you could stay with me.”

“Nice try babe but that won't be happening, just because Will isn't expecting me back at work for a while doesn't mean I won't have anything to do.”

Entering their bedroom Bea sat on the bed dropping her crutches on the floor.

“The sooner I get rid of those bloody things the better.”

Allie soon got ready for bed then helped Bea, watching her struggle was not an option and the sooner she got into bed the sooner they could cuddle up together knowing that they weren't going to have anyone walking in and out of their room every couple of hours. Bea was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow not that Allie cared, snuggling up to her she fell asleep a few minutes later.

As soon as Rick Manning finished his shift he headed straight for the address he had been given over in Noble Park. Pulling up outside the address he checked the piece of paper again for the name of the person he was meant to be meeting. Getting out of the car he looked at the house, it looked pretty decent from the outside but noticing a couple of guys walking out as another was approaching the door it didn't need the investigative instincts of Sherlock Holmes to know what the place was being used for. Making his way to the door he did as Channing had instructed him, ringing the bell he took a step back and waited. A young blond haired woman opened the door looking him up and down, he was glad he had changed out of his uniform before he left the prison.

“I'm here to see Annabelle.” He simply stated.

The young woman told him to follow her and she took him upstairs to a small room that was being used as an office.

“Annabelle?” He asked as he looked at the woman sitting behind the desk.

“Yer, that's me, but who the fuck are you?”

“Rick, Rick Manning, Derek Channing told me to come here, you have something for me?”

“Yer, he said you'd be stopping by, glad to see ya ditched the uniform, wouldn't want the place getting a bad name or the customers scaring away.” She said as she handed him the envelope that she had already prepared for him.

“It's all there, wouldn't be wise for ya to stick around for too long if ya know what I mean?”

“Yer thanks, I'll be going then.”

The young woman who had taken him upstairs was waiting for him as he walked back out of the office showing him back to the door. He was glad to be out of that place, he'd been in plenty of seedy places throughout his career but that place just gave him the creeps, getting back in his car he drove a couple of miles away before pulling over to call Detective Ayoub, filling her in on what had happened and confirming that the place was definitely being used as a brothel he gave her the address. Channing was telling the truth about some of the illegal brothels still being in operation, finding out how many and where they were wasn't the priority, getting the evidence they needed on Vinnie Holt was the priority, no one wanted another attack on Bea, Paul had made that clear, Holt had to be stopped at any cost, Channing wasn't going anywhere after all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do have a few chapters already written but they need a little more work, sitting in a hospital room is not the best place to write, somedays it was way too busy to concentrate properly. I will get them posted as soon as I work out the million or so mistakes I know they will contain and I'll probably end up rewriting parts of them.
> 
> Again sorry to keep you all waiting for so long.
> 
> And I should have explained better, as you all know when I posted chapter 118 I was going out for the evening, I got bored and left early, unfortunately my best friend, Colin, pain in the rear that he is stayed out later, at some point after I left him he was hit by a drunk driver. So I wasn't in hospital myself but I've certainly spent plenty of time sitting in one! Fortunately he's making a good recovery.


	121. Chapter 121

_A few days later……_

 

Allie woke up to her favourite brown eyes staring at her,

“How long have you been awake?”

“Not long.”

“Do you need anything? Are you in any pain?”

“I think I have everything I need right here next to me.”

“Is that so? You know we can't stay here all day though right?”

“I know, but we don't have to get up just yet, no one else is awake yet, stay here with me for a little longer.”

“Alright, but Deb and your dad are both leaving today.”

“You had to remind me? Although that does mean I have you all to myself doesn't it?”

Almost an hour later they dragged themselves out of bed when they heard Debbie and Michael talking as they passed by their bedroom door, after helping Bea shower and get dressed Allie didn't want to leave her to get downstairs alone but Bea said she'd be fine, if she needed help she could call her dad or Debbie to help her. Allie knew she was right and crowding her wouldn't make her happy so she went for a shower, making it downstairs twenty minutes later, the smell of pancakes and bacon dragging her in the direction of the kitchen finding Michael quite happily making breakfast while teasing Bea about how long it took her to get downstairs. Allie was just about to sit down when there was a knock on the door, answering it she found Franky and Boomer standing there.

“Not asking us in then blondie?”

“You haven't given me a chance, anyway aren't you two a little early, how did ya know we wouldn't still be in bed?” Allie answered as she stepped to the side.

“Knew ya wouldn't, heard Michaels stayin with ya, and he makes a killer breakfast, but ya already know that don't ya?”

Closing the door behind her Allie followed the pair to the kitchen, after giving Franky and Boomer a hug Michael returned to cooking breakfast saying that making extra wasn't a problem as long as they didn't mind waiting for a while, of course Boomer answered for the pair of them then asking Bea how she was feeling before turning her attention to watching Michael cook.

After sitting and casually chatting and laughing over breakfast the conversation between Bea and Franky turned to the office, as much as Allie wasn't happy about her talking about work at least she wasn't trying to persuade Franky to take her into the office, as long as they just talked about the cases she could live with that.

“David has cleared up more cases in a week than you did last month Red, think you should stay at home permanently.”

“Piss off Franky, how many of those cases just needed a little work to close them?”

“Ok, most of em, but he works his butt off when he's round the office so don't be worryin about work, everythin is fine.”

“I'll just have to take your word for it, I wouldn't dare go anywhere near the office.”

“So like Deb goes back to uni today yer?”

“Yes Booms, and my dad goes back to New Zealand tonight.”

Franky suddenly looked at her watch.

“Shit! Maxi’s gonna kill me, Booms you're an hour late for work.”

“Na she’ll be cool, told her where I was goin, called her before ya picked me up yer.”

Debbie and Michael had both gone to pack after breakfast and Bea had wondered why they were taking so long but Franky and Boomer had kept her entertained for the last couple of hours so much so that she hadn't noticed that Allie wasn't still in the room. Once they had left she started to feel a little lonely which was unusual for Bea, maybe it was because she knew that the house was going to feel so empty when Debbie and her dad had both left. Hearing Allie and Debbie laughing as they were walking down the stairs made her smile, they got on so well and she loved that, she hated how Debbie had had to grow up, she knew that she hadn't been able to protect her from everything that Harry had done, no matter how hard she tried that was always going to be impossible. But now watching her with Allie she knew that Debbie finally had what she should have always had, two parents that loved her, two people who would always support her in everything she chose to do, it may have come a little later than Bea would have liked but like Allie had said, they had met exactly when they were meant to. As she watched them both as they walked into the living room laughing the feeling of love she got was still so strange, it stretched through her whole body that feeling would have once overwhelmed her now it just made her feel complete. It had no length or depth, it was just absolute, like she was standing in the middle of a raging fire but she was still safe at the same time. She felt so completely at peace even when her heart was dancing around in her chest, the hole that had once been there, the hole she was never really aware of until she had met Allie had been filled. She felt so light, as if she sitting on top of the world, it had been strange, frightening even, how they had gone from being complete strangers to wondering how she had ever managed to live without Allie for so long because she couldn't imagine being without her now she was her anchor, her one and only stability in a world filled with chaos.

She knew that it was going to be an emotional day for all of them, Debbie would be leaving not long after lunch and as much as she really wanted to go to the airport with her it was uncomfortable sitting in the car and at that time of day the airport was busy and she didn't want to be hobbling around the airport. Allie had volunteered to take her to the airport without any hesitation and over breakfast when Michael had said that he would take a taxi so that Bea wouldn't be left on her own Franky had stepped straight in squashing that idea telling him that she would be more than happy to take him.

———————————————

Rick Manning arrived early at the prison for his shift, the governor hadn't been happy about having undercover officers in the prison but then he wasn't happy about having Derek Channing in the prison either, Rick knew that a deal had been done already so that as soon as Channing was sentenced he would be moved to an out of state prison, that was as much as he knew and as much as he wanted to know. Knocking on the governors office door he was soon told to enter, finding the governor sitting behind his desk.

“Take a seat, you know I don't like this…is everything in place?”

“Of course, any calls he makes will be monitored, he won't have the phone for too long anyway, I've already told him that I need to know where it's hidden, he thinks I've got his back and any time I think there will be a search I'll move it for him. Naturally that's not the case at all, as soon as we have everything we need I'll be gone and you can retrieve the phone.”

“Can you be sure he won't let other prisoners use it?”

“He's desperate, he doesn't want anyone else to know he has a phone and risk losing it.”

“What puzzles me is how you ever got the warrant to listen to his conversations, isn't that considered entrapment, after all you're providing him with the phone?”

“It was hard to get around that, but we convinced the judge that it was necessary, not that we can use the calls he makes in court, we will still have Vinnie Holts recordings to fall back on. As soon as it was apparent that Don Kaplan was working for him we got the warrant for his calls and detectives in Sydney already had theirs in place for Holt.”

“This had better not backfire.”

“There are no guarantees in a case like this but if you'd rather keep him here I can leave now.”

“No, no I realize how important this is but I cant help worry that something could go wrong, after all only you and I know what is going on.”

Leaving the governors office he made his way to the staff room, he needed a coffee before he had to see Channing.

An hour later he made his way to Channing's unit, being on remand he didn't have to work and he never had, there would only be him and a couple of the undercover officers in the unit so he knew it was the best time to hand over the phone. He soon found Channing in his cell staring at the wall muttering to himself, he watched him for a few seconds before making his presence known.

“You got it? Tell me you got it?”

“Calm down, I have it, before I give it to though where are you going to hide it?”

“I don't fucking know, just hand it over or this won't end well for you either.”

“Are you threatening me Channing?”

“What? No….I…I just need the phone, the sooner I can call Vinnie the better.”

“No way mate, if it's not going to be put in a safe place you ain't getting ya hands on it, I'm not sticking my neck out for you.”

“I don't know, you know the prison well where's the safest place?”

“The kitchen, but since you're on remand you don't have to work, I do know there's a spot open on kitchen duty if you want to risk it.”

“You expect me to work?”

“I don't expect you to do anything, a lot of your unit work in the kitchen though, would be the safest place for you and the phone.”

Channing sat on his bed his head in his hands, how was this turning to shit so fast for him? He didn't know how to work in the kitchen and he didn't have to work, they couldn't force him but he needed that phone. Rick wasn't planning on sticking around to watch him have a melt down and decided to leave him to it, he had work to do, turning around he left his cell. Walking down the corridor away from Channing's unit he heard someone running up behind him spinning around he saw Channing.

“Ok I'll do it, I'll work in the kitchen if you can organise it.”

“Sure, go back to your unit and I'll sort it out.”

“I'll get the phone today?”

“If you keep me talking probably not, the longer it takes me to get you assigned to the kitchen duty the longer it'll take.”

Channing turned around and headed back to his unit, Rick returned to the governors office, this was a big ask but it should be easy to convince the governor when he knew exactly where the phone would be hidden. He knew it wasn't ideal, having Channing in the kitchen would never be ideal but having a couple of undercover officers in there with him should make it easier. The governor hadn't wanted Channing in the kitchen but when Rick told him exactly where the phone would be that had eventually swayed his decision. Returning to Channing's unit she shouted out to him.

“Yer, what is it?”

“Kitchen duty now.”

  
Following Rick to the kitchen he had no idea what to expect, Rick spoke to the officer who was supervising the prisoners as they worked letting him know that he would show him round and get him set up wherever they needed him, the other officer agreed, he had no interest in spending anytime round Channing and was shocked that he'd volunteered to work, he'd never shown any signs of wanting to do anything since he was sent there. Rick knew that the undercover officers from his unit that worked in the kitchen had already organised the hiding place for the phone and Channing was going to be working with them he would make sure of that so someone would always have eyes on him and he'd never know it. Pulling Channing to one side he handed him the phone after pointing out where to hide it.

“The guys from your unit will cover you but be careful.”

“They know I have a phone?”

“No, they think you are doing me a favour, they won't bother you, don't worry so much.”

———————————————

After lunch Bea had returned to the sofa, sitting alone with her thoughts until Debbie tumbled over the back of the sofa the pair of them couldn't help but laugh. Sitting on the sofa properly next to her mum she soon found herself wrapped up in a hug.

“I'm going to miss you.”

“I know mum, I'm going to miss you to, but I've got holidays coming up in a few weeks, I won't be gone that long.”

It would never matter to Bea how old Debbie was or how far away she was she would always miss her, she'd always be her baby girl just like Bea was to her her dad. She hated her being so far away and she knew that really that was just silly, she had to grow up, and after everything there was no way Debbie would ever make the same mistakes that she had, she deserved to be able to live her life the way she wanted to, she was doing something she had never got the chance to do at her age and she would never want to stop her from experiencing everything life had to show her. She could have been separated from the two people she loved more than anything permanently if things had been just a little different, she knew how lucky she'd been.

“Thank you for coming home, and for being there for Allie, I know how hard it must have been for both of you but I'm glad you could be there for each other.”

“If you'd have heard her on the phone you'd have run all the way home to get to her, besides I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. I'm going to miss both of you, you better do what you’re told though because if I get a phone call from mama you'll be in big trouble.”

“Yes boss, I'll try, really I will. Allie really means that much to you doesn't she?”

“She does, but I know she means even more to you so you better behave, she only wants what's best for you so don't give her a hard time, and don't sulk too much.”

“Ok, ok……I'll try my hardest, I promise, I don't want to be using there crutches forever, not much good at work with them am I?”

“Nope, but don't try going back to work too soon either, you know Will said mama can take as much time off as she needs.”

Debbie always hated to leave but this time it felt different, harder, maybe it was because she knew how close she had come to losing her mum and even though she knew she was leaving her in very capable hands she was going to worry about her all the same, she just hoped that she would take it easy and not try to rush back to work before she was completely ready. She knew she'd have a fight on her hands with Allie if she tried but Allie couldn't be there all the time even though she was staying off work and if Bea managed to talk Franky into picking her up and taking her to the office there would be trouble.

“I need to get going, better go and get my bag.”

Allie wondered back through from the kitchen finding only Bea sitting on the sofa.

“Where's Deb?”

“Gone to get her bag, I wish I was going with you.”

“You can if you feel up to it.”

“I do but I think it's better that I don't, I hardly think a blubbering mess on crutches is a great idea. Plus dads still here so I won't be on my own.”

Once they arrived at the airport Debbie felt even worse about leaving and not just about leaving Bea. Over the last three weeks her and Allie had got a lot closer, she hadn't thought that was possible, but from the second she had set eyes on Allie in the waiting room of the hospital, seeing how distraught she was had made her feel closer to her than ever before. They had arrived earlier at the airport than they had planned, Debbie wanting to leave the house when she did hadn't actually surprised Allie, she knew she had done that because she didn't want Bea to see her get upset and up until the point when they got a coffee she'd held up pretty well but Allie could see it in her eyes that she was upset about leaving. Staying wasn't a realistic option though if she didn't want to fall too far behind in her studies, even though she had told them both that she was keeping up Allie knew she must be falling behind a little and hoped she would catch up quickly. They sat in silence for a few minutes while they both sipped their coffee.

“I really wish I could have stayed longer, and gramps leaving today as well means you'll have your work cut out for you stopping mum from doing too much.”

“I wish you could have stayed longer to, it won't just be your mum who's going to miss you you know that?”

“I know, I'm going to miss both of you, you'll look after mum though so I know I don't have to worry about her too much….if she gives you too much trouble though call me.”

“I doubt I'll need to I'll just tell her I will, try not to worry so much though, you need to concentrate on your studies, but if you need anything you can call me.”

Finishing their coffees they walked over to queue that had started to form at the check in desk for Debbie's flight.

“I better get going, don't work too hard and call me if you need anything.”

“I will, tell mum I'll call her later.”

Two weeks later most of Beas injuries had healed and the doctor was pleased with her progress, she was getting more frustrated because she still needed to use crutches and that had led to a few small arguments with Allie. Franky, Liz and Boomer had been over almost everyday not that listening to Boomers endless rounds of recanting the gossip from the salon had cheered her up much, she was sure she was fit enough to go back back to work but Franky wouldn't hear any of it telling her that if she tried she would have no choice but to get Boomer to sit on her. Bea managed to convince Allie that she really didn't need to stay at home with her all the time and she eventually called Will agreeing to go back to work three days a week. She didn't really want to leave her but Bea had convinced her that she would be fine and agreed that if she needed her she would call her straight away. Bea knew Will didn't mind Allie staying with her but she wanted her to get back to some kind of normality. Allie had called Franky warning her not to let Bea talk her into taking her to the office while she was at work and even though Franky had said that there was no way she would Allie wasn't absolutely certain that she wouldn't try as soon as she had gone back to work.

After speaking to Will again Allie had arranged the days she was going to work and it was her first day back, finding herself sitting outside the bar she suddenly found herself feeling nervous and she wasn't quite sure why, she even thought about calling Will and telling him that she wasn't ready to leave Bea at home yet but she knew if she went back home it would probably end in an argument. A few minutes later she hesitantly got out of the car, looking around her she started to relax a little, there were no cars parked that she didn't recognise but she still couldn't quite shrug the uneasy feeling off, maybe it was mainly because she had been right there when she found out about Bea and the thought of her being alone at home made her feel a little sick. The police were still sitting outside the house but they had been sat outside the office and that hadn't stopped anyone from getting to her. Walking round to the side door of the bar she knew Will was already there and would most likely be in the office waiting for her.

Almost as soon as Allie had left the house Bea started to regret talking her into going back to work, she was well aware of what she could and couldn't do and not being able to leave the house and go wherever she pleased left her feeling isolated and a little helpless. She couldn't believe how quickly she had started to miss her but she knew deep down that it was the right thing to have done, going back to work for her was going to be harder, Franky had told her that security at the office had been upgraded and even though Bea had said that it was a waste of time she couldn't argue about it because Franky had already had the improvements made before she even told her. The house was far too quiet and it felt so empty without Allie there, turning on the tv made absolutely no difference to how she felt and she couldn't stop looking at the time. She spent the next few hours moping around until she realized that Allie would be home in around an hour and she'd completely forgotten what Allie had told her before she left about not forgetting to eat lunch. Getting up from the sofa she went to the kitchen determined that she was going to make a start on dinner, her first problem was deciding what she was going to make. When Allie arrived home she was surprised to find Bea in the kitchen, after telling her that she didn't have to cook Bea had simply told her that she had been bored and since it was only her leg that was the problem now she could cook easily enough before Allie disappeared for a shower.

After Allie had gone to work the next day she almost fell into the same trap as the day before, this time she was determined not to just sit around doing nothing, finding her sketch book in a draw she decided that spending the day sketching would be a great deal more productive than just sitting around doing nothing. She spent the next two weeks doing almost the same thing before she had another hospital appointment, checking with the doctor that it was alright to start doing a little more she was pleased when he had said that it was perfectly fine as long as she didn't try to do anything too strenuous. Allie knew that the doctors definition of not too strenuous was not the same as Beas, given half a chance she'd try doing anything and everything to prove to herself that she was perfectly fine and that worried her a little but with any luck Bea wouldn't push herself too hard although she very much doubted it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure when I will update again, I'm thinking that I'll have to stick with weekly from now on, but if I do get more written I will of course update more regularly.


	122. Chapter 122

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There may be a little trouble on the horizon.

Allie knew Bea was pushing herself harder than she should be but every time she'd got home from work she'd only ever found her either sitting on the sofa with her sketch book or in the kitchen cooking dinner. She had made it home in record time this evening and was back five minutes before she would usually get home. Walking into the house she was surprised when she didn't find her either in the living room or the kitchen until she noticed the door that led to the garage was open. Stepping into the garage she found Bea sitting on the floor her Harley in pieces,

“What are you doing?”

‘Shit!’ Bea thought to herself, she hadn't realized how late it was getting, her intention had been only to strip the bike down before getting cleaned up and starting dinner but she'd got carried away and forgotten to keep a check on the time.

“Are you ignoring me hoping I'm going to go away or are you actually trying to come up with a good excuse?”

“I just wanted something else to do, I'm not going to hurt myself sitting on the floor.”

“No! And you're sure of that? What happens if your bike falls over?”

Dragging herself to her feet she knew she was in trouble and she couldn't quite understand why, she hadn't left the house, hadn't even tried to get Franky to take her into the office and all she wanted was to get back into a normal routine again.

“Allie it wouldn't fall over.”

“And you know that for sure do you?”

“Well, ummmm, I guess not.”

“Sometimes you can be so stupid you know that? We both know that it's not impossible, are you trying to get yourself put back in hospital?”

“Have you any idea how boring it is just sitting around the house all day? I just wanted to find something else to do.”

Allie shook her head, she knew she was bored but of all the things she found to occupy herself with she couldn't believe where she'd found her.

“Go and get cleaned up and I'll start dinner, and so you know, I'm locking that door so don't think you'll be sneaking back in the garage.”

“Fine…..I'm sorry.”

The next day after Allie had left for work Bea decided that she was going to do the one thing she had said she wouldn't do, she was going to the office, calling a taxi she knew she would be back long before Allie even knew she had gone out. When she arrived at he office Liz had tried to get her to go home straight away but Bea was determined that she was staying, when Franky arrived nothing she could say would change her mind either.

“What are you going to do Franky call Allie? For fucks sake I'm not a kid.”

“Na, not getting in the middle of anything with you two, but I'm tellin ya if I run into her and she asks if you've been here I'm not lyin for ya.”

“Never asked you to lie for me did I?”

She hadn't gone to the office to work she missed the company and since she arrived she hadn't moved from the chair that she had sat in, not until she heard Franky on the phone and it sounded like she was talking to Detective Ayoub. She hated only being able to hear one side of the conversation and when Franky closed her office door she was more than a little frustrated, didn't she have the right to know what was going on? She hadn't heard anything from the police, there'd been a car outside their house day and night but she had no idea how the case was going.

Thirty minutes later Detective Ayoub entered the office, shocked to find Bea there, she had expected that she would still be at home and her intention had been to inform Franky what was happening before going over to see Bea, she was a little concerned also, the officers outside the house had been told to notify her if anything changed and Bea leaving the house was something that she needed to know about, from the conversations that had been monitored she knew that nothing had been set in motion yet but it only took one phone call and all that could change in a second.

Franky walked out of her office knowing that Bea was going to have to be part of this conversation. Looking at them both Franky turned and went back into her office leaving the door open Detective Ayoub followed her taking a seat while they waited for Bea to get there, she hated how slow she still was and she couldn't wait to get rid of the crutches for good. Closing the door behind her she knew that this had to have something to do with Channing and Holt, they had Kaplan already, they had Channing but that wasn't stopping him from trying to hurt Allie so her confidence in anything really changing was running at an all time low. Taking a seat next to the detective she looked across at Franky.

“What's going on?”

Detective Ayoub took a deep breath before she started to tell them everything. Explaining that they had undercover officers in the prison watching Channing and that he had been given access to a mobile phone. Bea was fuming when she heard that, they knew Channing wanted Allie dead and they let him have a phone, she tried hard to keep her temper under control it was already like a simmering pot, slow burning and ready to bubble up at any moment. The detective carried on explaining the situation indicating that they could have removed the phone from his possession at any time and that by the end of the day he would have no access to it. As she continued to speak Franky and Bea looked at each other, Channing sounded like he was about ready to be completely tipped over the edge into madness if what they were hearing was true. Holt was a whole new ball game, he had been busy but the investigation had uncovered more than anyone could have ever imagined his organisation was falling apart around him and he was so caught up covering any traces of himself that led back to his connection with Channing and Ferguson that he had said more during his phone calls than was usual for him. He had never thought that his calls would be monitored by the police, why would they, he had police officers on his payroll always willing to do whatever he asked and having a judge in his back pocket had led him to believe that he would always be untouchable. But it wasn't Channing that he was more concerned about it was Ferguson, before he had sent her to work with Channing she had been his closest ally, she knew every small detail of his business and she was crazy, calling him a couple of times a day reminding him what she knew, she wanted out of prison and if he didn't come through she was ready to talk, she wasn't going down without a fight, Channing was an idiot and the reason she found herself in the position she was currently residing in Vinnie had argued.

After four hours both Bea and Franky were exhausted, what they had been told was more than they expected and in the next couple of hours warrants would be executed for more arrests including Holt. Rick Manning was about ready to finish his last shift at the prison and he'd heard whispers that Channing had been pacing the kitchen while he was working, the other prisoners had been angry and that had led to him being removed and taken back to his cell where he had fallen to pieces. Manning found him laying curled up on his bed mumbling something to himself that he was a dead man.

Liz was about ready to leave the office when she remembered that both Bea and Franky were still in the office, the detective had left a few hours ago and she'd been so busy even she had lost track of time, glancing at the clock it was gone 6pm.

Allie was going out of her mind, she'd been home for almost an hour and there was no sign of Bea anywhere, she'd tried calling her mobile and each time it went straight to voicemail. She couldn't have left the house or the police car wouldn't be still outside the house. After checking everywhere she had gone outside and asked the officers sitting out there if they had seen Bea or anyone hanging around after telling her that they hadn't she went back inside pacing the living room. A few minutes later she heard the front door opening and heard Bea call out to someone before the door closed. Bea walked into the living room one look at Allies face she knew she was angry, the look on her face said it all, she was as mad as a monkey with a migraine and she was going to have to try and explain why she wasn't at home when she got there. She didn't think she had done anything wrong, she'd gone to the office and she had promised that she wouldn't do that but she had some good news so it had been worth it in her mind.

“Where the hell have you been Bea? I've been going out of my mind, I've tried calling you. How did you even get out of the house without being seen?”

“I went to the office.”

“That's it? That's all you're going to say? You went to the office after you said you wouldn't even think about doing that until the doctor said you were fit enough.”

“I wasn't working for fucks sake, have you any idea what it's like sitting here all day with no one to talk to? You're being childish, so I went out for a while and I wasn't here when you got home, shit I don't need your permission to leave the house.”

“You wanted me go back to work or was this the plan, I go back to work then you can do as you please? It's not bad enough that I find you in the garage now you go to the office.”

“That again? I just wanted something to do, I wanted you to go back to work so you didn't feel like I was keeping you here, I am quite capable of looking after myself I'm not a child I don't need a fucking babysitter, I've had worse and had to look after everything on my own even when I knew I'd probably get another beating before I had healed.”

“And I just wanted to help you, you don't have to do everything on your own anymore but you don't see that do you?”

“Allie I…I….”

Allie was in no mood to listen to anything as their voices continued to rise above the scared silence, each glance or word they directed towards the other stirred a hurricane of more harsh words and insults, they had opened their own Pandora's box sending every word spilling out of their mouths into the room at full speed. Bea had no intention of backing down in her mind she didn't have to justify everything she did as their heated argument continued, it was a war of words and they were both at each other's throats like a savage dog fighting for dominance. Every word was more pronounced than the last slicing through the air in the room. When Allie looked at her like the fire in her eyes had been doused with ice water, making the her blue eyes pale, she knew she shouldn't have argued. The look in her eyes was something that she wasn't used to and it unnerved her. She had never once looked at her like that, as if right in that moment in time that she hated her and she stopped speaking as if she had just crawled back inside her invisible shell and it wouldn't matter what Bea said anymore she was closed off and unreachable. Bea wanted to try and lighten the mood, crack a joke, but she knew she wouldn't laugh, she was standing in front of her but she may as well have been on the moon.

Allie stormed off up the stairs as Bea just stood there looking at the empty space that was now in front of her, slumping down onto the sofa she thought that she was just going to go for a shower and that she'd calm down and let her tell her what she'd found out. Half an hour later Allie appeared in front of her, a bag in her hand, as Bea just sat there looking at her for a few seconds not being really able to process what was happening.

“You want to do your own thing well now you can, I'm leaving, I can't stand to be around you right now.”

  
“What?……Allie I…”

“Don't, just don't, I don't want to hear your excuses. I told you I didn't want to leave you at home but you knew best, you always know best so now you can do as you please.”

Allie almost ran out of the house, she wanted to cry but she wasn't going to do it in front of Bea, she wasn't going to let her see how upset she really was. Getting into her car she drove off pulling up a short time later outside Boomers. Her phone kept ringing and she knew it was Bea, when it rang again she turned it off, she really didn't want to speak to her. Knocking on Boomers front door she only hoped that her friend, their friend would let her stay the night while she worked out what she was going to do, the door soon swung open revealing a confused looking Boomer.

“Errrr, what's goin on blondie?”

“Booms, c…can I st..stay the night?” Allie managed to say before bursting into tears.

Boomer wasn't sure what was going on but seeing Allie start crying as she stood in front of her wasn't what she had expected as she pulled her into a hug.

“Yer, ya can stay, ya need me to call Bea?”

“No!……sorry Booms, I don't want her to know where I am.”

Boomer wasn't stupid she knew by her reaction that something wasn't right, she wanted to call Bea and find out why Allie had arrived at her door but she'd said no so she wasn't going to do something she'd been asked not to.

“Ya know where ya old room is, ya want somethin to eat?”

“No thanks Booms, I'm just going to have a shower and go to bed if you don't mind.”

“Yer sure, whateva ya need blondie.”

As soon as Allie had disappeared Boomer called Franky, Franky had been expecting them to disagree about Beas little trip to the office but she thought it would be alright when Bea explained things to her. To her knowledge they had never had an argument that bad before, couldn't have since she'd never heard of either of them leaving the house. Telling Boomer to keep an eye on Allie she said she'd go and see Bea in the morning, if Bea was angry she wasn't getting in her way.

Bea sat on the sofa, calling Allie wasn't getting her the response she wanted and that just made her more exasperated, she couldn't believe that Allie wouldn't even hear her out as mad as she was at the whole situation she was upset and couldn't stop her tears from falling. As much as she tried to hold it in she couldn't, watching Allie run from the house was too much and the pain came out in a silent scream as her tears started falling one after the other with no sign of stopping anytime soon. She punched the sofa and tried to scream but her voice had melted into the sound of her sobs. Her world turned into a blur through her tears, everything around her just disappeared. She hadn't meant for this to happen she'd only planned on going to the office for a few hours, Allie was never meant to have known that she'd left the house but then she'd sat in Franky's office talking about what they'd been told and hoping that by the end of that day Vinnie Holt would be in custody and they wouldn't have to worry about what he was going to do next. As the last painful emotion hit her square in the chest all she could hope for was that she could get Allie to listen to her. A couple of hours had passed and now she was just exhausted, as her eyes started to close everything darkened into nothingness as she passed into the oblivion of sleep.

Waking up the next morning just as it was becoming daylight Bea stretched suddenly becoming aware of her surroundings, the events of the previous evening racing back into the forefront of her mind. Getting up from the sofa she went to the kitchen, she wasn't hungry but needed coffee. Opening the back door she breathed in the cool morning air as she looked outside, she'd always loved the flowers and the sound of the birds in the early morning, she loved the sunlight and watching the clouds drift by, loved the way the leaves would move gently in the breeze. Moving back into the kitchen she stood looking out of the window, the tiredness that had taken over her body the day before still clung to her like a veil over her skin, cold and grey. She watched as the twigs swayed in the breeze outside the window, all she could feel was a creeping sorrow where she should be feeling happiness. It sat like a cold July rain on her skin and that was enough to chill everything inside her that was once warm.

Returning to the sofa everything she felt was just heavy, there was no other way she could define it, and she was going to have to carry it around with her until she could find some way to sort out the mess she had created, until then she knew it was a feeling that was going hang over her casting a long black shadow on her life. A loud knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts but she really didn't want to see anyone, Franky stood on the other side of the front door knowing that Bea was in and if she wasn't still asleep which she doubted she knew she was just ignoring her. Finding her keys she looked for the spare she had to Beas and let herself in finding her laying on the sofa.

“Well fuck Red what did ya do?”

“Don't start Franky, I fucked up alright and I don't even know where Allie went.”

“That's easy she went to stay with Booms, now come on let me help ya.”

“Just go away, you can't help me. No one can help me make this right.”

“I can listen she's just upset, did ya tell her what Ayoub told us?”

“She wouldn't give me a chance, and don't start Franky all you'll do is make it worse, you can't just put a band aid on it and say it'll be ok because news flash it's not going to help.”

Franky paced back and forth in front of the sofa before sitting in the chair opposite her.

“Listen you've dug ya self into hole but sitting here doing nothing isn't helping ya just gonna dig ya self in deeper. I'm tryin to throw ya a rope here, come on Red when have I ever let ya down?”

Bea looked Franky in the eye for the first time since she'd arrived and she could feel the tears starting to build again.

“I just want things back like they were yesterday before I went to the office, but if she's not going to see me or listen to me I may as well be playing hide and seek with someone who's halfway across the world.”

“Then let me help ya.” Franky said confidently.

“Are you not listening to me? You cant it wo….”

Franky silenced her in a matter of seconds as she got up from the chair and sat on the edge of the sofa next to her bringing her into a gentle but firm hug.

“I can help ya, all ya gotta do is trust me. I need to see that smile again and I'm not taking no for an answer.”

Bea was a little stunned, Franky would usually leave her alone when she protested long enough.

“Your too important to her to lose ya know that, she's just mad at ya. Let me see what I can arrange.”

Bea just nodded as Franky got up and headed for the door, “I'll see ya later Red.”

Laying back on the sofa Bea couldn't see how Franky could do anything to help her sort this mess out, she made the mother of all mistakes and now her heart felt like it had shattered into a thousand pieces and every shattered piece missed Allie just as much as the whole. She missed everything her face, her eyes, her smile, her scent and she had no clue how to sort this out. She'd never missed anyone but Debbie there had never been anyone else to miss, everything seemed meaningless, everything in the house looked so ordinary but there was nothing ordinary about this.

Allie arrived at the bar finding Will pacing the office,

“What's wrong?”

“Oh hey Allie, just had two of the bar staff on the late shift call in sick, usually I'd ask y….”

“I can work late, it's not like I have anything else to do.”

“I cant ask you to do that Allie what about Bea?”

“She doesn't care where I am, we….we had a huge argument yesterday because she went to the office, and I know it seems so stupid now, I went to stay with Boomer last night but I cant stay there forever.”

“You'll work it out, you know how Bea gets sometimes, I'd rather you went home after your shift.”

“No Will its fine, I'll just call Boomer and let her know I'll be late.”

When Franky got to the office Liz was already there, she hadn't finished everything off from the day before and had got in early wanting to get a head start on everything.

“What a fucking mess Liz.”

“Something wrong love, you haven't had an argument with Bridget have you?”

“No, no….its Red, had a huge argument with blondie after I dropped her off last night, now she's home alone and blondies staying with Booms, ya know what she gets like when she wants to do something.”

“We all do, so how are we going to sort this out?”

“I was thinking that we could get them together at the bar, pretty sure Booms can get blondie out of the house and I'll just drag Red out, nothin she can do about it once I get her there.”

“Not sure that'll work love, maybe you should have a word with Maxine, we all know she listens to her.”

“Ya know Liz I always knew there was a reason we can't run this place without ya, think I'll do that.”

Franky emerged from her office two hours later with a grin oh her face, Maxine had agreed to get Bea to the bar and getting them together in the same place was going to be easier than Franky had thought when Boomer had said that Allie had called her to let her know she was going to be working late, now all she had to figure out was how to get them to actually speak to each other.

Bea hadn't been happy when both Maxine and Liz had turned up later that day saying that Franky had told them what had happened and that they were taking her out for a couple of hours to cheer her up. She didn't want to go but Maxine could always persuade her to change her mind and after they helped her choose what she was going to wear they left her to get ready.

“I hope Franky knows what she's doing love.”

“I reckon she does Liz, look at her, she's a mess, I'm sure if they see each other now they've had a chance to calm down it'll be fine.”

When they arrived at the bar Bea had rolled her eyes, of course they had to go to Wills bar, but she had no idea that Allie would be there, as far as she knew her shift finished two hours ago and unless Boomer had dragged her back there there was no way she would be there she told herself, yet half of her hoped that she would be there, just to give her a few minutes to see her even if she wouldn't talk to her. Walking into the bar it was pretty busy and Maxine said they should go into the quieter part of the bar that was closer to the restaurant, Bea just followed behind, she was in no rush. Franky and Boomer were already there and when she saw them her heart dropped a little more not seeing Allie with them. An hour passed and there had been no sign of Allie so Bea had relaxed a little. Franky had gone to the bar winking at Shane who disappeared asking Allie if she minded him taking his break. Heading to the other end of the bar her eyes fell on Bea long before she saw Franky standing there,

“Ya serving blondie or are ya just gonna stand there drooling all night?”

“What……I…I….wasn't, what do you want?”

“You two to stop being so fucking pig headed, but I'll settle for three beers and two cokes for now.”

Allie just smiled at her before turning round, there had been no music on all the time they had been there and there had only been Shane behind the bar and the five of them sitting there before Allie had finished getting the drinks for Franky the music came on and she knew as soon as she heard what started playing that Shane was in on the whole thing, passing the drinks to Franky she retreated to the end of the bar that was furthest away from where they were sitting. She couldn't leave while until Shane got back from his break and hearing the words of that particular song made her want to fall to pieces as she stood in the shadows just listening.

 

**There goes my heart beating**   
**‘Cause you are the reason**   
**I'm losing my sleep**   
**Please come back now**   
**There goes my mind racing**   
**And you are the reason**   
**That I'm still breathing**   
**I'm hopeless now**

 

**I'd climb every mountain**   
**And swim every ocean**   
**Just to be with you**   
**And fix what I've broken**   
**Oh cause I need you to see that you are the reason**

 

**There goes my hands shaking**   
**And you are the reason**   
**My heart keeps beating**   
**I need you now**   
**And if I could turn back the clock**   
**I'd make sure the light defeated the dark**   
**I'd spend every hour of every day**   
**Keeping you safe**

 

**I'd climb every mountain**   
**And swim every ocean**   
**Just to be with you and fix what I've broken**   
**Oh cause I need you to see**   
**That you are the reason.**

 

Beas eyes searched behind the bar finally seeing Allie in the darkest corner and she wanted to go over there and tell her how sorry she was but she couldn't, she needed to get out of the bar as much as she wanted to make her see that she really hadn't meant to say half of what she'd said or done she wanted to run. Franky looked over at her as she picked up the crutches,

“Where ya goin?”

“Home, I'm just going home, this was a mistake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hate me for ending this chapter there, I promise they will work it out just not today.
> 
> The song is by Callum Scott - You are the reason  
> If you've never heard it you really should https://youtu.be/H0n5KrYlzgI


	123. Chapter 123

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't be too cruel so I decided to get this chapter posted today.
> 
> Oh and just in case anyone wanted to know.....definitely NSFW

Franky followed Bea out of the bar finding her ordering a taxi as she leaned against the wall.

“Come on Red ya can't just go home.”

“You set this up I know you did, I'll try and talk to Allie in my own time not when you think I should, so thanks for nothing Franky.”

“Ok, ok, I'm sorry, I just thought….”

“I know what you just thought.”

The taxi arrived and Franky stood with her hands in her pockets as she watched it drive away, she thought that this was going to be easy, now she was going to have to rethink her plan. When Bea arrived home she went straight upstairs and lay on the bed in the dark she couldn't get the image of Allie in the darkest corner of the bar out of her mind and she knew it was her fault, Franky was only trying to help and she was going to have to apologise to her the next time she saw her. She lay in the dark tossing and turning but she couldn't sleep no matter how hard she tried. Eleven o'clock morphed into twelve then one, time ticked slowly by marked only by the glowing numbers on her alarm clock, where there should be dreams there was the only the blackness of the bedroom. If she were a genius she had thought she probably could have solved some important problem for the world with all the extra time being unable to sleep was providing but the only problem she wanted to solve was how she was ever going to fix what she had broken.

Dragging herself from the bed she saw no point in staying where she was as the maddest thought suddenly rushed into her mind, usually she would never act on such a random impulse but the situation was not usual. Grabbing her phone she called a taxi before heading downstairs and pulling on her jacket.

It was almost 3am when she knocked on Boomers front door hoping more than anything that Allie would be the one to open the door, she didn't even know what she was going to say if she did open the door. She should have tried calling her again earlier after she knew the bar was closed, left even more messages, but was she even listening to them? She needed to think but the storm that was raging inside her head wouldn't allow her to think.

Knocking again she looked up biting her lip when she saw a light come on, she knew that was Allies room. She knew it was late or early depending on how she looked at it and she fidgeted a little, words ran through her head, sorry being the word that seemed to be on constant repeat but sorry just wasn't good enough. She froze to the spot and her breath got caught in her throat when she saw the door opening and saw Allie standing there, her hair a little tussled and her eyes a little red and puffy from crying. Bea stared at her every thought had deserted her and she had no clue what to say as she watched Allies eyes widen a little when she realized who it was standing there.

“Bea…..”

Allie reached out her hand and she flinched a little, something she instantly regretted when she saw the look of hurt on her face. She had turned up in the middle of the night because she hated herself for hurting her and there she was causing her more pain, without Allie the centre of her universe was lost and she felt like she was drowning. Looking her straight in the eye she wanted to try and make her understand what she wanted to say but she was finding it hard to understand herself so she was in no doubt that it wasn't going to work. Shaking her head Bea still couldn't believe she was standing there and maybe it had been a bad idea, she felt lost and couldn't be sure of anything. Looking into her eyes she knew how badly she was hurting and she needed to be honest, she couldn't live without her she knew that but there were so many clouds swirling in her head she just couldn't find any words, she felt off balance and that she was blowing in the wind.

Allie stared back at her and as she was about to speak the only words Bea could formulate, the only ones that had been rolling around in her head spilled from her mouth in a hurry to beat her to it.

“I'm sorry….I'm so sorry.”

She stood there uncertain if those words actually meant anything at all wondering why she just couldn't get herself together, she never wanted to act like this, like a weak and broken person, the one who always needed comfort and reassurance, but she knew why she couldn't get herself together because the reason was standing right in front of her instead of laying in the their bed next to her. Sadness washed over her again and she thought of turning around and walking away, calling a taxi and going home but that would just mean that she would be alone again. Seeing her in the bar while that song was playing had already made her mind up for her, she wanted to fight for what they had, even having to walk with crutches really wouldn't stop her from trying to climb a mountain to get back to her if that was what it took. That song had repeated in her head on the ride home and was the reason she was finally standing there, she wanted to say more, needed to say more, she didn't know what apart from constantly repeating I'm sorry.

“Are you going to come in?” Allie asked with uncertainty in her voice.

Bea just nodded and followed her inside.

“Where's Booms?”

“Staying with Franky, you know what she's like, things got a little messy after you left.”

“So……it's just us….I…I…”

“Shhhh, just sit down you really shouldn't be standing too much you know that.”

Allie waited for her to get comfortable before she sat next to her.

“Allie I….”

“I know you're sorry…..Franky told me what happened, why you were late getting home….i should have listened to you when you tried to tell me. I…I thought someone had taken you away again when you weren't in the house, I didn't know what to do, I even asked the cops if they had seen you but nothing and then you walked back in as if nothing was wrong. I got scared that I was going to lose you and I let my mouth run away with itself before my brain caught up I had already left the house and I couldn't just make myself turn around.”

“I should have called you so you knew where I was going but I knew you'd talk me out of it, honestly I only went over there because I was….well….I missed you, I needed someone there and when I think about it it was stupid, I could have just gone to the bar and sat there.”

“You know I probably would have made you go home if you had done that.”

“I know……I miss you.”

Allie moved closer to her being careful of her leg and pulled her into a hug.

“I miss you too, so much…I cant sleep without you next to me.”

Allie pulled away slightly only to lean back in a few seconds later to kiss her and Bea eagerly kissed her back, when their tongues met Allie groaned as a ripple of desire ran from her stomach to her core as she pulled Bea in closer. As they kissed it seemed to Allie that every nerve ending in her entire body was exploding and she couldn't recall a time they had ever shared a kiss like it before, it held a promise of more to come and when they eventually had to pull apart they were both gasping for air.

“Wow.” Was all Bea could could manage to say.

Allie looked at her, “Have You any idea how much I've missed doing that?”

“Yer? Did it live up to your expectations?” Bea asked as she ran her fingers across her cheek.

Allie face lit up with the brightest smile, “Blew them right out of the water babe.”

“Good,” Bea whispered before kissing her lightly. “I know you might not want to come home right now and I don't blame you but will you come over tomorrow after you finish work?”

“You're wrong you know, I do want to go home but I can't tonight, if Booms comes back in the morning and I've just disappeared she'll worry. You could stay here.”

“Better not, I should get going and let you get some sleep.”

After calling a taxi Bea left a few minutes later, not that she had really wanted to she just didn't think it was the best idea to stay knowing Boomer would probably be back before she had to go to work. If she could have ran to the car she would have, all the way home she had the biggest smile on her face, she was still smiling when she finally crawled into bed, her dreams filled with Allie.

Allie couldn't sleep and spent the remainder of the night replaying that kiss over and over in her head, she knew she was going to be tired the next day but somehow she didn't want to sleep. When she arrived at work she was still in a daze and she spent most of the day watching the time inch towards the end of her shift the rest of the time she spent daydreaming about what would have happened if Bea had actually stayed. Boomer hadn't gone home instead she'd called Allie letting her know she was going straight to the salon giving Allie a chance to let her know that she might not be back because she was going over to see Bea. Boomer had just laughed and said it was about time they sorted theirselves out, not that Boomer minded Allie staying but it reminded her of when she had first moved in with her she had never been there and when she had turned up at her door she had doubted that she would stay for very long.

Franky had been informed by Detective Ayoub about the outcome of the arrests that had been made, apologising for having not been able to call sooner, it had been chaotic. Channing wasn't talking for the most part he was just staring into space and she actually wasn't sure if it was just an act or if he really was having a breakdown and they were still waiting for him to assessed by a psychiatrist. She relayed everything that she had been told about Holt, naturally all his interviews had been met with ‘no comment’ answers but the evidence against him was mounting and it didn't matter that he was choosing not to respond to their questions. Franky had agreed that she would go over and tell Bea, she wanted to see her after after their evening at the bar anyway, she was worried about her being alone and wanted to check up on her. Arriving a short time later at Beas she knocked surprised when she opened the door without her having to knock again.

“Ok Red what's going on?”

“Nothing, what do you want?”

Sitting on the sofa Franky explained everything not that Bea seemed to be paying a great deal of attention to anything she was saying until she said that one of them needed to tell Allie that they were safe now.

“I'll tell her later when she comes over.”

“Huh, when did that happen?”

“Last night, I kind of went over to Boomers, she agreed to come over after work.”

“So I can stop tryin to get ya together then.”

“Yes Franky, I think I've got this.”

As the time approached 5pm Allie knew she wasn't getting out of the bar anytime soon when one of the staff called in sick. She wasn't happy about it and an hour later she was busy serving a customer when Shane told her to go home, Will had called a couple of the part time staff in and he could manage by himself until they got there. Driving home she didn't know what to expect, she should have called Bea before she left work but she had been so eager to leave it slipped her mind. Pulling up in the drive she just hoped that she wasn't going to be angry with her, if she was though there was nothing she could do about it now.

Reaching the front door she decided that she would knock, she knew she had her keys but it didn't feel right letting herself in not after she'd walked out the way she had. Bea opened the door and smiled at her.

“I'm sorry I'm late, we seem to always be having problems with the staff calling in sick.”

“It doesn't matter, you're here now, come in.” Bea reached for her hand pulling her in through the door.

“You want a drink?”

Allie just shook her head as she looked into her her eyes, “I want you,” she whispered.

Bea laughed and nodded, “sure, but come and sit down, I have something to tell you and I don't want to stand here for the rest of the day.”

After telling her what Franky had told her Allie pulled her closer as their lips met eagerly for a kiss.

“I should have called you and let you know I would be late, but that was worth waiting for.”

Bea had gotten a little worried when it was almost six o'clock and there was no sign of Allie she thought that maybe she had changed her mind, now she was just relieved to be in her arms again.

“I couldn't stop thinking about you all day at work.”

“You sure we aren't just dreaming all this? I've got to admit I'm a little worried that I might wake up any minute.”

“You're not dreaming, I said I'd be here and I am,” Allie held her a little tighter, “And I think we have a little lost time to make up for so just kiss me like you did last night.”

There was no way Bea was was passing up the opportunity and happily obliged, she was uncertain if she would come home and didn't want to waste a second of any time they were going to spend together.

“How is it possible that you got even sexier while I was away?”

Tilting her to the side slightly Bea shook her head, “you're crazy you know that?”

“Only for you.”

Resting her head against Allies shoulder she could feel her entire body throbbing with need.

“Are you sure this is what you want? Being here with me I mean, if you're not sure….”

Allie cut her off when she placed a finger against her lips.

“I wouldn't be here if I wasn't sure, I want this I always did, I always will.”

“Are you sure? I don't want you to feel like you need to be here just because of me, and right now I feel like I'm going crazy I want you so much.”

Allie nodded without saying a word before kissing her again only this time it felt different, more urgent and they couldn't keep their hands off each other, not that either of them wanted to. Bea wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into her lap.

  
“How long are you staying?”

“I'm not in a rush to leave.”

Before Bea even realized what was happening Allie had stood up and pulled her to her feet wrapping her arms tightly around her waist she slipped her thigh between her legs before she started kissing her again. Beas head was spinning as her hands found they way to her stomach and she inched them up under her shirt until she reached her breasts and gently squeezed them. Allie couldn't stop the moan that escaped her as she tried to concentrate on kissing, there was something different about Bea, something more sensual than she had ever known before, she couldn't quite place what it was but every touch felt so different. She'd never once known Beas hands become such confident explorers of her body but she wasn't going to complain especially when her thumbs gently grazed her nipples sending jolts of arousal through her body. She couldn't stand it anymore as she picked Bea up and carried her upstairs to their bedroom.

“Allie.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

Bea didn't answer she just leaned in and kissed her again, reaching the bed Allie lowered her onto it leaning down she kissed Bea as she moved her hands to the hem of her shirt trying to pull it off, sitting up Bea pulled her shirt off and threw it on the floor. Allies mouth and one of her hands quickly found their way to her breasts as her other hand slid round her back unclasping her bra before pulling back a little and removing it completely.

“Smooth Allie, real smooth, but you're wearing far too many clothes for my liking.”

“So do something about it.”

Bea reached for her shirt fumbling to try and pull it off in a hurry, seeing the frustration on Beas face she pulled off her own shirt and bra before lowering herself down until the full length of her body was laying on top of Bea.

“I'm not hurting you am I?”

Bea didn't answer instead she just planted a soft kiss on her lips. Allie felt so stupid for having walked out on her but she was going to make it up to her one way or another. Allie rained kisses down on her exposed upper body as her hands tried to rid her of her of her sweat pants and underwear. Beas breathing was ragged and every inch of her skin felt like it was on fire, finally removing the offending items Allie trailed kisses down her legs before returning to her inner thighs. When her tongue finally circled her most sensitive spot she almost jumped off the bed. Bea was struggling to remember a time that anything had ever felt that good and it had been a few weeks since Allie had touched her not wanting to cause her anymore pain than she had known she was experiencing. Just as Bea thought she was about to explode Allie thrust her fingers into her, moving slowly and deeply, her hand moving in sync with the strokes of her tongue as her other hand reached up to caress her breasts. Beas body was tingling in multiple places at the same time and she wasn't sure how anyone could possibly feel so much all at once until everything felt as if it were colliding in one spot and a massive orgasm tore through her entire body. She couldn't keep her eyes open any longer as her head fell back into the pillows and she could swear she saw stars. The next thing she could remember was feeling Allie move to lay beside her trailing her fingers across her stomach, several minutes passed before she opened her eyes and when she finally did Allie was laying on her side, her head propped up on her arm staring at her.

“Fuck Allie, what did you just do to me?” Bea managed to say as she tried to get her breathing under proper control.

“You liked it,” she smiled.

“Shit Allie, that has to be the biggest understatement I have ever heard.”

Bea let her eyes roam over Allies exposed skin as she reached over and lightly dragged her fingers along her shoulder and down her chest, watching as her breathing quickened as her hand continued its path over her stomach stopping at the waistband of her trousers.

“This isn't exactly an ideal situation you know….I mean I'm completely naked here and you're still half dressed.”

Sliding her fingers around the button she quickly undid it before Allie rolled onto her back watching Bea undress her, sliding off her trousers before slowly pulling down her underwear. Bea slid down the bed ignoring the pain in her leg that she had just caused, circling her clit with her tongue she heard Allie moan in pleasure making her completely forget the pain she was feeling. She had no intention of stopping as she licked and sucked losing herself in the sounds coming from Allie. Slipping two fingers into her Allie made the sexiest sounds she ever thought she had heard escape her, and she'd thought that on more than one occasion.

“Babe, please don't…..don't …..stop.” Allie muttered.

“One second,” Bea breathed as she stopped what she was doing briefly so she could shift her position slightly. Returning her mouth to her clit she slowly inserted her fingers again, picking up her pace her arm was on on fire but she was not going to stop again. Raising her eyes slightly she saw the light sheen of sweat that coated Allies body right before her orgasm tore through her body.

Bea slid back up her body and Allie held onto her her tightly as she tried to gulp down air, she didn't want to let her go, she was half afraid that as soon as she fully regained her senses she might disappear.

“I don't think I want to move from this spot ever again.” Allie mumbled as she pulled Bea closer.

“Hmmmm, we don't have to move right now,” Bea whispered as she looked over at the clock actually not surprised how much time had passed.

They lay in silence just holding each other for a few minutes before Bea spoke again.

“I think it's too late to cook dinner now.”

Bea moved to lay by her side as Allie turned her head to look at her and just shrugged.

“Doesn't matter, I'm only hungry for you. Have I told you how incredibly sexy you are?”

Allie flipped her over so she was laying on top of Bea again before she slowly left a light trail of kisses down her body.

“And you taste so fucking good….”

Bea couldn't stop her body from quivering as she gently made her way back down her body.

“Hmmmmm,” was all Bea could manage as Allies lips and tongue inched their way down her body.

Bea felt her fingers and tongue work their magic again and before she could really process what was actually happening she was well on her way to another orgasm.

  
Allie placed gently kisses on her way back up her body a look of mischief in her eyes.

“That was a sneak attack and completely unforgivable.”

“I couldn't help myself, it's your fault you shouldn't be so damn sexy,” she grinned, “I won't do it again if you don't want me to.” A serious look returning to her face.

“I'm quite certain I said that it was unforgivable not unrepeatable,” Bea giggled.

A short time later they had both drifted off to sleep, when Bea woke up it was already dark and she could hear Allie moving around.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting dressed, I need to go back to Boomers.”

“Oh.” Bea frowned into the darkness, ‘why would she want to stay?’ She thought to herself.

“I have to go back.”

“I guess.”

Bea watched as she pulled on her trousers before she leaned down and kissed her,

“I'll see you soon.” And with that she left the room.

Bea lay there for a few minutes before she got off the bed and pulled her shirt and sweat pants back on, slowly making her way back downstairs in the dark. Slumping down on the sofa she searched for her phone on the coffee table finding a text from Franky asking if everything was ok. She wasn't going to reply, Allie had gone and she didn't know how to deal with it again. She sat in the darkness trying to convince herself that she hadn't just dreamed the past few hours. There were a hundred questions running around in her head, ‘Did Allie really still want to be with her?’ ‘Would she want to go home?’ She didn't want to even begin to try and process the reality of the situation she found herself in.

She suddenly thought that she heard a key in the front door but she really wasn't sure anymore. Allie walked into the living room dropping her bag on the floor.

“Why are you sitting in the dark?”

“Allie?”

“You were expecting someone else?”

“No….but you said you were going back to Boomers.”

“To get my things…you thought I wasn't coming back?”

Bea dropped her head, of course that was what she expected and Allie knew it, she hadn't meant to doubt her but the second she had said she was going back to Boomers all her insecurities had come rushing back.

“I brought pizza, when was the last time you ate?”

Flicking on the lamp Bea squinted as her eyes tried to readjust to the light as Allie stood right in front of her.

“Hello you…I'm sorry if I made you think I wasn't coming back, I should have been more clear when I said I was going back to Boomers.”

“It doesn't matter, you came back. I thought…well…I'm being stupid…I just don't want to lose you.”

“You won't…didn't I tell you I wanted this, that I always will?”

“You did and I'm happy you came back.”

“I'm happy too, I missed you. I have to admit that I'm disappointed that you put your clothes on, I was hoping that you'd still be in bed.”

“I wasn't in bed, I was on the bed,” Bea corrected.

“Fine, you win this time. We need to eat .”

“It feels weird without you here.”

“Not as weird as it felt being back at Boomers, why did I even think that was a good idea? Now I know you haven't eaten and the pizzas getting cold.”

As they sat and ate together they both realized that they were hungrier than either of them had thought, they kept the conversation light, neither of them wanted to talk about everything else that had been going on, they both knew they were going to talk about it in more depth but now was not the time. When they finished eating Allie took the empty pizza box to the kitchen before returning to the living room, pulling Bea up by her shirt she led her back to the bedroom. Gently pushing her back on the bed Allie lay next to her running her fingers through her hair.

“You're sure you want me here? I mean Franky….she must be pissed at me for walking out on ya.”

Bea turned her head to look Allie square in the eyes,

“Firstly it was Franky that made me go to the bar yesterday, I know she thought she had me fooled by getting Maxi and Liz to come over but I knew it was her who arranged it, so I don't give a fuck what a Franky says, not that I think she's going to say anything. Secondly no one has ever made me feel the way you do, I may not know much but I know I love you and that I want you here, as long as it's where you want to be.”

Allie knew there was nowhere else in the world she wanted to be, laying there next to Bea she felt like she was in heaven, she didn't speak for a while she just lay looking at Bea with a smile on her face, eventually her hand found its way under her shirt again.

“Just so you know it's not just your body I'm after but I assume you won't take offence if we return to our earlier state of undress?”

Bea shook her head as Allie removed her her shirt and bra. Sitting up Bea pulled off her shirt and sweatpants before pulling off Allies trousers and underwear before they returned to laying next to each other.

“So much better.” Allie sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I forgiven for yesterday's update?


	124. Chapter 124

The next few weeks passed uneventfully much to Beas relief, her leg had healed without causing her many problems and they had planned a week in New Zealand to visit Michael and would be leaving in a couple of weeks. Franky had wanted to take on a new missing person case but Bea had said no, she was in no mood to get tangled up in something that could interfere with their week away and no amount of pleading from Franky would change her mind. Almost every missing person case they had investigated seemed lately to end up in something that they had no business getting involved with.

It was Friday afternoon and Franky was sitting in her office with her feet up on her desk, Bea just hadn't been the same since she returned to work and she couldn't work out what was worrying her, she got why she didn't want to take on another missing person case and Franky had been more than willing to handle it by herself but she had put her foot down. That afternoon they were expecting an update from Sydney on how the Holt trial was going, they had never know a trial happen so fast but this was Vinnie Holt after all, no one had ever been able to get enough evidence on him in the past to even get him arrested never mind into court.

Channing was no longer an issue that anyone had to be concerned about, after being found unfit to be tried for any offences he had been sent to a high security forensic mental health hospital. The Thomas Embling Hospital had a bad reputation for violence, a few days after Channing had been admitted the entire nursing staff had walked out after yet another savage attack on one of them by a patient. Bea had made the remark at the time that maybe if they were lucky he'd never get out of there alive, not that it would matter anyway, if there were ever a time that he was classed as no longer mentally ill he would be returned to prison and be tried for his original charges plus the additional charges that were waiting for him. Insanity was now his curse, something he had feared more than anything but in a way it would save him at least from Vinnie Holt. Sitting alone in his room the strange thoughts that had, while in prison, sunk him into new realities with ease were now slightly waining in frequency but they still did come and go. He had been found on more than one occasion standing in the middle of his room with a glazed look in his eyes, the thoughts in his head more like a florid daydream that he was actually living instead of just viewing of course he was the main character every time but instead of being weak and afraid he was strong and heroic. He wasn't insane was he, he didn't think he was being removed from the prison environment must have cured him, he'd heard someone say he was delusional, delusional he had laughed internally at the thought after all isn't a true delusion a firmly fixed false belief that gains traction like the tires on a car driving you in different directions erratically and towards some disastrous ending? He was convinced he wasn't anywhere close to being delusional, his daydreams took him on a glorious rollercoaster ride showing him the fantastic things he would get to experience again in his life.

His insanity had stolen his mind like a deranged thief, as it continued to take everything from him that had once been important to him, replacing that with dangerous delusional ideas, changing his personality and muddling up any rational thought that he may still have. His thoughts had grown roots and they made sense to him as they fell like an avalanche cascading out of control, forming a new and wonderful maze for him to figure out, not that he would, he had a new prison now that needed no walls.

Bea had just walked into Franky's office when the video call came through from Paul, dragging a chair round to sit next to Franky they were both sure they had never seen him look so happy.

“The jury's out and I doubt this is going to take long.”

“Yer, ya gotta remember who ya dealing with.”

“Franky have a little faith but I get what you mean, more good news for you both though, Holts wife was convinced she was getting away scot free, she was arrested this morning as she was arriving at court, think it's safe to say she's going to end up with some serious time in prison.”

“How? What did you find out?” Bea asked amazed by that, she'd worried that even if Vinnie went to prison she would just take over in his place.

“Ah, well remember when you stumbled upon the remains of Jason Weston? Oh wait I forgot to tell you when we identified him, anyway, we found all the proof we needed to connect her to his murder…….shit wait, I gotta go the jury's coming back, shit that was quick, I'll call you back as soon as we get the verdict.”

Thirty minutes later Paul called back, this time both his and Davis's faces appearing on the screen.

“Got him, unanimous guilty verdicts life with the standard non parole period of 20 years for the murder of Sky Pierson, life for drug trafficking of a large commercial quantity, oh yer and another 20 years for the illegal brothels all to be served consecutively doubt he's ever getting out there's no way he'll get parole.”

“You think that will stop him? Shit he wanted me dead who's to say he won't be able to organise it again?”

“This is unusual, but he's going to be sent to the The Goulburn Correctional Centre, where he's going to be put in the high risk management centre, I say it's unusual because no one ever gets sentenced there they usually get transferred there when no other prison can handle them. Don't know if you've ever heard of it but it's the only facility like it in the whole country. I understand your concerns Bea I really do but I can tell you that they use mobile phone jamming equipment in SuperMax. Can't see him escaping either, I've been there there are five and half metre high walls surrounding it with guards patrolling them and they carry high powered assault rifles. He's never going to know what hit him, it's a fortress within a fortress, he'll be in his cell most of the time, I tell you they don't even have a shower block or any common areas.”

They spoke for a little longer as Paul really wanted to put Beas fears to rest, getting all the information did help a little but she knew she would always probably have concerns.

“Think we should go home early Red, and ya know I reckon we should do something to celebrate. Hey didn't Will and Rose get engaged?”

“Yer they did, couple of weeks ago, he called Allie a midnight to tell her she said yes.” Bea laughed at the memory, Allie had not been happy and had told him he could have waited for the morning to tell her that.

“What's say we head over to the bar now and ask Will if we can have a little celebration tomorrow night, come on Red live a little both the little fuckers are history.”

“I guess….ok….yer let's go over, could do with a day off as well think we may as well have tomorrow at home we don't have anything that can't wait until Monday.”

“I like your thinking Red, if Will agrees I'll call everyone when I get home.”

After arriving at the bar Franky did all the talking, Bea sat at the bar talking to Allie and Shane, she wasn't really interested in celebrating anything but when Franky and Will appeared from the office she was happy after agreeing that he and Rose hadn't celebrated with their friends and it was a great time to do it. Will said he was going to make a few calls and Franky left to go home and make the calls she needed to make. Appearing back in the bar Will told Allie and Shane that they only needed to work until lunch time the next day, the pair of them had become really good friends with Will and he didn't want them to miss out on a party because they were tired, they had both tried to tell him that he didn't have to do that but it was too late since he'd already organised cover for them.

———————————————

Bea had somehow managed to forget that Debbie would be home around lunch time on Saturday, the news from the previous day was still bothering her and she'd busied herself cleaning the house knowing that since they were going out that evening neither of them would probably feel like doing it the next day. When she'd finished she'd only intended to sit down for a few minutes but fell asleep, she never heard Allie and Debbie walk in to the house even when they crept passed her laying on the sofa giggling. A couple of hours later she woke up hearing voices in the kitchen, realizing that it was Allie and Debbie she got up and went to the kitchen finding them both sitting at the table drinking coffee and laughing at something on Debbie's phone.

“I'm sorry Deb I forgot you were coming home today, why didn't you call me when I wasn't there to pick you up?”

“I did, you didn't answer so I called Mama and she came and picked me up.”

“You should have woken me up when you got back Allie.”

“I thought about it but you looked cute so I thought I'd leave you to sleep.”

“Allie I'm not cute when I'm asleep.”

“Can you see yourself with your eyes closed?”

“That's impossible I think.”

“Then you'll just have to take my word for it won't ya? Are we cooking dinner or ordering takeout before we go out?”

“Pizza!” Debbie exclaimed before Bea could even think about it.

“I should have know that would be the first thing you'd think of,” Bea laughed, “and it is easier than cooking.”

Three hours later they were all getting ready to head to the bar, Allie was almost ready and she was sitting on the bed watching Bea, she had thought it was strange when Debbie had said that she hadn't answered her phone and when they had got home and found her asleep she had become a little more worried about her but had decided not to say anything until they were alone.

“Is everything alright Bea?”

“Yes why?”

“You don't usually go mad cleaning the house or fall asleep during the day, and you didn't hear your phone.”

“I figured we wouldn't feel like doing it tomorrow and I didn't mean to fall asleep that just sort of happened.”

“Your sure your not worried about anything?”

Allie knew she was struggling with something and had been all afternoon and even though she didn't want to risk another argument she just wished she'd talk to her. She guessed it was something to do with Holt and Channing but didn't want to bring their names up in any conversation unless Bea did. Allie wasn't even convinced that she had been ready to go back to work but she knew how much she hated staying at home, at least she had Franky and Liz around when she was in the office.

“Can't get anything passed you can I?”

“Not very often no, you want to talk about it?”

“I'm just tired, I used to love my job, I worked harder than anything to get to where I am and now I just don't think I want to do it anymore. All this stuff that keeps happening, it's not fair on you or Deb. I could never go back to hairdressing I know that…..I just have no idea what else I want to do.”

Allie stood up and crossed the room to where she was stood wrapping her arms round her waist.

“If you're not happy anymore maybe you should talk to Franky and I'm sure you'll find something else that interests you. You can always run ideas past me if it helps.”

“I know that, but I don't even have the first idea what I want to do.”

Allie was beginning to wish they weren't going out and she knew Bea wasn't all that bothered, but Franky was right though a night out would be fun and they did have something to celebrate after all. Half an hour later Debbie knocked on their bedroom door wanting to know if they were ready to go. Debbie called a taxi and it arrived five minutes later, pulling up outside the bar it didn't look as if it was all that busy and that was strange for a Saturday night, but then you couldn't really tell from the outside. Debbie was halfway to the door by the time Bea took Allies hand in hers and started walking that way. When they finally walked in they found that although it wasn't as packed as it usually would be it was still quite busy, the restaurant was packed Bea noted as they walked passed the open door when they entered the back part of the bar finding everyone already there. Making their way over to the bar where Franky was stood.

“Will and Rose not here yet?”

“Na, thought you two weren't coming either.” Franky grinned as she turned to face them, “Want a beer?”

“Yer, thanks Franky, looks like Will invited all the regulars thought it wasn't as busy out there.”

“That was Shane,” Allie giggled, “Have ya seen him around?”

Franky shook her head as she passed them both a beer and pointed to the tables that their friends were currently occupying. After taking a seat with their friends Bea looked around noticing Shane and Linda over in one corner of the bar huddled together, she had to wonder what they were up to but guessed it would be something to do with Will and Rose. Glancing to her side she looked at Allie seeing her happily chatting with Boomer, she'd meant to say thank you to Boomer for everything she'd done over the past few weeks and especially for letting Allie stay with her after their argument but she had never found the time, since returning to work she hadn't found the time for a great deal other than trying to work out what direction she wanted to take next, the only thing she knew was that she had to speak to Franky about how she was feeling.

A few minutes later Beas eyes were drawn from the bottle in her hand when Allie whispered in her ear.

  
“I think someone must have invited a few people for you and Franky.”

Her eyes sprung up from the bottle seeing Paul and Davis stood right in front of her.

“Surprise!” Davis beamed at her, “Franky said we'd find you all here.”

“Oh yer she would, but why are you here?”

“It's not just us, even the DCI is here, why? Well that's a stupid question, if it wasn't for you two nothing that's just happened would have been possible.”

Bea shook her head, she wasn't going to take any credit for anything, hearing a lot of laughing coming from the other side of the room she saw David stood with Adam and Gary and watched as Boomer made a bee line for David.

“I think Booms really likes him.” She whispered to Allie.

Half an hour later the room was packed, even Detective Ayoub had put in an appearance. Will and Rose had finally arrived and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves when she noticed Will had made his way over to the bar and the music had been turned down. Almost everyone fell silent, well all except Boomer and David who were still chatting quietly in a corner of the room.

“I'm not going to bore you all for too long but Booms the longer you keep talking the longer this is going to take.” Will winked at Boomer before he carried on speaking. “As you all know Rose and I got engaged but that's not the only reason we're all here tonight, tonight is also for Bea and Franky, they've worked really hard and after recent events I think you'll all agree with me that they and especially Bea deserve this. The last few weeks have been tough and now it's time to move on from that and look forward to happier times. I want to say one last thing to Bea, I take friendship very seriously and when I choose to call someone my friend I assume many responsibilities, we can't always be there when it's time to party and we might not even speak to each other all the time, but I will always be there when times are tough, and remember that no matter how much you have been hurt there is always something better waiting for you. You stood alone for so long, and like me you were all alone at sea and we both ended up finding the light that could shine on the dark side of us, for me that was Rose and for you it was Allie who was your light in the darkness……so yer, think I've bored you all enough now, oh yer and Booms, the rest of the drinks are on me.”

Franky was watching Bea, noticing the tears building in her eyes she placed her hand on her shoulder and giving it a slight squeeze she watched on as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve before turning to look at her. She'd been in a world of her own all week and when they got the news about Holt she had thought that things might start to get back to some semblance of normality for Bea but by the look on her face Franky knew that it wasn't just that that was bothering her and even though she knew that it wasn't really the time to be having this discussion they would have to talk about it and soon, if she didn't get it out in the open soon she would bottle it up and drive herself crazy. She hoped that she might have talked to Allie already, the last thing they needed was anything else coming between them, Beas strong willed and independent nature had a nasty way of causing problems at the worst possible times as Allie had already found out.

The drinks were flowing and Boomer was taking full advantage of the free drinks, Bea had nudged Franky when she saw Booms pulling David by the hand to the dance floor and they both smiled. Every guy Boomer had ever dated had turned out to be a complete waste of space and Franky had always made sure to give her opinion of them almost the second she had met them. The last guy she had dated Daz was something else, even Bea had told her what she thought about him much to Boomers annoyance, Bea would usually just smile and nod and pretend to ignore them but Daz was hard to ignore. The night Boomer had brought him to the bar to meet everyone his eyes had been on every other woman in the bar other than Boomer, and he made it worse for himself turning up in his scruffy work clothes when Booms herself had gone to a lot of trouble to make herself look nice. When Bea had seen the disappointed look on her friends face she had let him have it both barrels, a couple of weeks later after saying she was never going to speak to Bea again she turned up on her doorstep in tears because she had found out that Daz had been sleeping with her sister.

“You think she likes David?” Franky strained to make herself heard over the music.

“I kinda think they like each other don't you? But I reckon we don't have to wrap her up in cotton wool with David do you?”

“Na….if he's serious I reckon he'll look after her don't ya?”

Bea didn't need to answer that question, everyone who knew David knew how sweet and good natured he was and he had spent a lot of time with Boomer recently, even though most of it had been hanging out in the office Franky knew she didn't have to worry about him. When Maxine returned to the table from the bar she watched the interaction between Boomer and David with a smile on her face, it was good to see her enjoying herself and joking around with someone who seemed to actually care about her.

“You think there's romance in the air there Bea?”

Bea just shrugged, she didn't think she was the right person to answer that question. “Think you should ask Booms don't you?”

She had to admit that she would like to see things work out for her friend, after all she'd sworn that she would stay by herself for the rest of her life but that was before Allie had turned her whole world upside down in a good way and now she didn't know what she'd do if she ever did decide to leave. She moved her chair a little closer to Allies who had been talking to Liz about Boomer and David, Liz had told her that she wasn't sure but she thought they might have been out together before tonight, David had walked into the office one morning grinning ear to ear and Liz knew the look but he wasn't saying much although she did know that the afternoon before that they had gone to lunch together. Bea pulled Allies hand into hers and leaned her head against hers turning a little to whisper into her ear.

“I love you.”

Turning in her seat more to face Bea she looked deep into her eyes, the music was loud and she knew she'd had a few too many drinks thanks to Boomer continually bringing more over to the table.

Leaning in so she could whisper back her lips brushed Beas ear,

“I love you to, and I'm sure I've told you more than once that I always will.”

It was getting late Liz and Maxine had already left when Bea asked Allie if she was ready to go home, she had just nodded, they had both stopped drinking over an hour ago in favour of drinking water but they were both getting tired. Boomer was still knocking back the shots and even though David had tried to persuade her that she was going to suffer the next morning she was still drinking much to Debbie's amusement, Debbie had spent most of the evening milling around talking to everyone and dancing, Bea was pleased that she seemed to be enjoying herself, most kids her age would would cringe at the thought of spending an evening with their parents and their friends but Debbie loved spending time with all of them. Bea and Allie had just got up from their seats ready to ask Debbie if she was going home with them or staying a little longer when Will approached them.

“I, errr…..I hope I didn't embarrass you too much with my little speech earlier….but listen I want to speak to both of you and obviously nows not the time I was thinking maybe the three of you could come over to the restaurant tomorrow for lunch.”

They both looked at him a little confused before seeing Debbie heading their way.

“Is everything alright Will?” Allie asked.

“Everything's fine, it's nothing to worry about but I have something that I need to ask you before I do anything else and it's not something we can talk about right now even though I do think this party is starting to break up.”

“What do you want to do babe?”

“If Debbie has nothing planned then I guess we can.”

Debbie soon found her way over to them letting them know that she was ready to leave if they were, it had been a tiring day, even though it wasn't a long flight home it always tired her out. She was more than happy to go with them to the restaurant for lunch the next day and she hugged Will before they left.

When they arrived home all three of them went straight to bed. Laying in each other's arms in the dark they both wondered what Will wanted to speak to them about, he'd given them no clue what was going on and he'd said that nothing was wrong, everything just left both of them with more questions than answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be wrapping this story up pretty soon, but I've still got a few more chapters left to write.


	125. Chapter 125

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little later than I intended to post this chapter....maybe it's because of the weather!

Sunday morning came and went just as it usually did except that Debbie had gone to the supermarket with them and that had only been because she wanted to make sure they bought enough snacks not that either of them minded, the food bill always went up when Debbie was at home, but as long as Debbie was happy who cared?

Getting ready to go over the restaurant to meet Will both Bea and Allie wondered what he wanted to talk to them about, naturally Allie was worried that maybe she had done something wrong and that he was going to fire her and this was his way of softening the blow. Bea tried to reassure her that it couldn't be anything like that, Will wouldn't just fire her, Will wouldn't have given her as much responsibility as he had if he didn't respect and trust her. After all the time Allie had worked for him there always seemed to be doubts in her head, she always worried that she would mess something up. Bea knew Will well enough to know that to him respect was more than just a few passing pleasantries, it takes effort to look at another person and look past what they might have done, what mistakes they might have made and to see them for the person that you know they can really be if they are given the chance to prove it to you. Will didn't care about past mistakes he showed all of his employees the same regard he listened to their concerns and ideas with compassion and seriousness. He listened without judgement, got to know each and everyone of his staff with as few assumptions as he possibly could. He respected each of them and respect has to be the foundation of trust, but no matter what Bea said she couldn't stop worrying.

“I know it may be silly to worry and I expect by the end of today you're going to be able to say ‘I told you so’ but I can't help it. Maybe because you are one step removed you can see things more clearly. You always seem to understand the significance of things, you listen, you wrap me up in so much love just by the way you look at me and the things you say. I reckon you're my number one supporter, my hero and my angel, everyone should have someone like you in their lives.”

“I would never say that to you, even if I am right, but why would he want all three of us there? That's not normally how the boss fires you. Honestly let's just get there and find out what he has to say.”

Allie turned round to look at herself in he mirror, right then no matter what was said to her it didn't help, she heard what Bea said and she understood exactly what she was saying but those remaining insecurities she carried around with her were still there. Bea closed the distance between then and wrapped her arms around her waist pulling her tighter into a luxurious hug, in moments like this there were no worries or cares and they both felt it. All Allie knew was that she was loved as she felt Beas chest rising and falling against her back, their breathing was in unison and nothing else in the world mattered. A tap on their bedroom door before it flew open was all it took for them to return to reality.

“Are we going or not, I'm starving and there's free food….hang on it is free isn't it? I mean Will invited us, I'm not wrong am I?”

“No Deb you're not wrong and yes we're going just give us a minute will you Allies a little hesitant.”

“Ok, sorry, but why are you worried mama? Oh wait, you think your going to get fired…..ha never happening, doubt Will could deal with one of mums proper melt downs on his ass if he did that.”

Allie giggled, if it wasn't Bea that cheered her up it would be Debbie. Taking Bea by the hand they walked out of the bedroom and followed Debbie downstairs. Arriving at the bar Allie felt a fresh wave of nerves wash over her, she knew she had to get this over with and the sooner she knew what he wanted the better. Will was sitting in the bar with Rose waiting for them and that took Allie a little by surprise, maybe Bea was right she wasn't getting fired after all, surly he didn't need Rose with him to do that. As soon as Will saw them walk in he got up from his seat.

“I'm glad you could all come, let's go into the restaurant I know it's busy in there but we've got the quietest table so we can talk over lunch.”

Allie swallowed hard and Will noticed it.

“Allie what's wrong? There's nothing to worry about, I just need to discuss something with you, it's important.”

“Ok.” Was all she managed to say as she held on tighter to Beas hand as they followed Will and Rose into the restaurant and to their table that was in a quiet corner.

“I hope you don't mind but I asked the chef to rustle us up something that's not on the menu.”

“I don't care what it is as long as there's plenty of it and it's free.” Debbie chimed in making Will laugh.

“Don't worry Debs there's plenty and of course it's free, I wouldn't invite you and then expect you to pay. Now does anyone want a drink?”

“Waters fine.” Bea said knowing that Allie needed a clear head at least for the time being.

Will caught the attention of one of the waiters and asked him to bring them some water before he turned his attention back to everyone at the table.

“Ahhh, I better get on with it I guess, you look a little green there Allie. So, you all know that Rose and I are getting married, Roses parents live in Mossman in Queensland and we've talked this over so many times between us and we've decided that we're going to move out there.”

“Your selling the bar and the restaurant then?”

“I will be, that's why I wanted to talk to you, I was hoping that maybe you might want to buy it from me? And I know that's a lot to think about and we're not getting married for a few months, it makes sense if you think about you know how everything works round here, I'm not selling you something that isn't profitable. I'd hate someone else to take it over and replace all the staff, you're all like family and I can't stand the thought of that happening.”

“I…I don't know what to say, Bea what do you think?….Bea…”

All words completely left Bea as she looked into Allies bright blue eyes and her brain fell completely silent.

“Bea…..answer me.”

But she couldn't, that was the last thing she expected Will to want to talk to them about, she tried to speak after a about a minute but her mouth just wouldn't move as if she were stuck under water everything around her seemed slow. Allie ran a finger down her cheek.

“Bea you're scaring me now, have you really got nothing to say? Tell me what you're thinking.”

But she couldn't her mind was completely blank, Allies eyes desperately searched hers as she waited for some response. She had to say something and she tried to search her mind for something to say but there was nothing, she was stunned.

“I'd say she thinks it's a good idea, she gets like that sometimes, like the day I told her I got accepted to uni she didn't speak for an hour, had the same look on her face as well, just give her a while to digest what Will asked you.”

Allie and Debbie chatted with Will and Rose about their plans and Will elaborated on why he had asked Allie to buy the bar. He knew she would do a good job, and he knew she could handle the responsibility that went with owning it. Debbie had agreed with everything Will had said but Allie wasn't sure and she wanted Bea to say something but they had already finished their main course and she still hadn't uttered a single world. Halfway through desert she turned to face Allie,

“I think it's a great idea, but we need to talk about it.”

Allie nearly choked she hadn't expected her to say anything right then.

“I'm sorry, I just couldn't get the words out, I never told you about that nasty little problem I sometimes have did I? I didn't mean to scare you.”

“Ok, you've never done that before, don't think I'll be springing any surprises on you in the near future if that's how you react. You think I should?”

“It's a great opportunity for you, we need to talk about it more and you need to go over everything with Will but I do, I think you should do it.”

After spending another hour at the restaurant they left, Bea knew she had something that she really needed to tell Allie, hell she hadn't even told Franky that she wanted out of the private investigation business. She'd thought about nothing else since she'd gone back to work, after everything they had been through she just couldn't see herself taking on any big cases anytime soon. She needed to tell them both what was on her mind but she wasn't sure how to tell them, she didn't think it would bother Allie in the slightest, Franky on the other hand may be a different story, they'd worked together for so long and Bea didn't want to let her down, then there was always the problem of who would buy her share of the business.

An hour after they had arrived home Bea had busied herself doing things round the house that needed doing and Debbie had gone to see a friend, Allie had sat on the sofa only meaning to sit down for a few minutes, the conversation over lunch had really thrown her for a loop. There was so much to consider and the extra hours she knew she'd need to work was the biggest concern to her, Will always seemed to be milling around the place at all times of day but she could see herself doing it. Relaxing back into the sofa the daydream began to blossom like a spring flower, unfurling one petal at a time. She used to daydream like this all the time but that had been at the lowest parts of her life and those daydreams had been replaced with reality. This daydream seemed to be a rich fantasy world, like living a life within a life, a chance to live the dream without leaving the comfort of the sofa. She absently stared at the wall with only a sliver of attention on her fingers twirling a few strands of her hair between them.

When Bea found her sat staring into space she found it hard to tell where her mind was at, laying on a beach ten thousand miles away perhaps? Or was she just imagining what it would be like to actually own the bar? The expression she wore on her face gave nothing away and that worried her a little. Sitting down next to her she ran her fingers over her cheek pulling Allie from her daydream.

“Sorry, drifted off there for a while, you need me to help you?”

“All done, what were you thinking about?”

“The bar what else?….You really think I could do it? It's not just the bar though it's the restaurant as well, not sure I could take on both, Will couldn't do it all.”

“Lets say you do it, Will knew you were ready to take over the running of the bar even though you didn't, if you had to make the same decision who would you trust that much to take over from you?”

“Shane.”

“That's your first problem solved then.”

“How did you get so smart?”

“I'm not, I believe in you, you can do anything that you put your mind to. I'm not saying it might not be tough at times but just look how far you've come, I believe in you and I know that if you really want to do this you will and you'll make a success of it.”

Allies eyes lit up and Bea could tell that a million new idea were now streaming through her brain. She could do something new, achieve something amazing, not that Bea ever doubted her at all.

“We have a lot to look into I have to get a liquor licence and I have no idea where to start with that, and what if Shane doesn't want that much responsibility? And then we won't have as much time together…..”

“Slow down already, I need to talk to you about something, it's not as important as the decision you need to make but I need to talk it through with you before I speak to Franky…”

“Everything's ok isn't it?”

“After what happened and I went back to work I really don't want to be there. I told you Franky wanted to work on another missing person case and I just couldn't do it. Don't get me wrong I do love the job, but I just don't feel like I can do the important work that we've always prided ourselves in. What I'm saying is that I think it's time I sold my share of the business and found something else to do, but I have no clue what I want to do.”

“Are you sure about that? You said it yourself you love your job.”

“I do but I don't think I'll ever want to take on any big cases any time soon, if I ever want to again and that's not fair on Franky, we'll lose business and probably end up losing everything, we have a reputation and with me there we will lose that.”

“Why haven't you spoken to Franky already?”

“What if she hates me? And even if she's ok with it, it could take forever to find someone who wants to buy my share and even longer to find someone who Franky even gets on with. And anyway I wanted to talk to you about it first.”

They spent most of the rest of the day talking things through, Allie had a million plans whizzing through her head, ideas about the bar, ideas that Bea might want to think about doing when she finally gave up being an investigator, Bea couldn't help the smile on her face, Allie really could come up with a million an one plans and she didn't even see it herself. Debbie getting home and announcing that she was starving was nothing new but made them both burst out laughing. They hadn't even realized how long they had been talking and they were so caught up in the things they were discussing they hadn't given dinner a second thought. The three of them eventually decided that it had be be takeout since neither of them particularly wanted to cook, leaving Debbie to decide and order whatever she wanted could be a mistake because she would usually settle for the first thing that she thought of and that was usually pizza.

Over breakfast the next morning Allie said she was going to speak to Will again, she wasn't going to give him a definite answer but needed more information and Bea had agreed that she was doing the right thing. Bea was more nervous she planned on talking to Franky and she knew David was going to be in the office so he could do some of the work that needed doing while they spoke, she just hoped that Franky wasn't going to get mad at her. Both Debbie and Allie told her that they didn't think she would have anything to worry about, unfortunately Bea just couldn't be as optimistic as they were.

Franky thundered her way into the office almost twenty minutes later than was normal even for her slamming the door behind her mumbling her good mornings to Liz, Bea and David with the same sulky tone you'd expect from a querulous child. Bea knew that was certainly not the mood she needed her to be in if she was going to be able to speak to her about what was on her mind. Yesterday had been great for Franky but today for some explicable reason she had woken up in a bad mood, today the world felt monotonous and she could feel her energy leaving her like ink seeping into blotting paper. She struggled to feel anything with pallid emotions that no substance, everything was just flat and drained like a used tea bag. She stomped through into her office with her head bent her gaze firmly fixed on the floor, she was trying not to look as distressed as she felt, she half wished that she were invisible, that she could blend into the floor or walls. She really didn't want to speak to anyone, that would just annoy her more but she knew Bea wouldn't be far behind her the second she walked into her office, probably before she even managed to sit down. Maybe later in the day her mood would lighten but right now it was as if she were sitting right under the blackest storm cloud that ever existed.

Bea decided that she would leave her alone for a while, her mood could possibly change when she got stuck in to whatever she had been working on, she could hope couldn't she? Franky was relieved when she sat behind her desk that Bea hadn't followed her, it was strange she had to admit that but a relief all the same. She sat with her shoulders slumped her eyes cast down towards her desk in a mournful gaze and her mouth in a semi pout. Kicking her foot against the desk with her boot clad foot she tried to think of a reason for her mood. Bea and David were going over some cases, none of which were urgent but David wanted to get as much done as he could while he was on his break from his course. Bea sat back in her chair for a while watching him, he really had taken to the work like a duck to water and he seemed to enjoy it the same way she once had.

Allie found Will deep in thought in the office when she got to work, not wanting to disturb him she quickly and quietly put her jacket and bag away and went through to the bar to start setting up for the day. Shane arrived a little while later and started helping her. Will appeared from the office a short time later asking Allie if they could talk. She suddenly felt nervous, maybe he hadn't meant to say what he had on Sunday and he'd changed his mind. Following him to the office they sat down, Allie was expecting the worse when Will started telling her everything she would need to do if she did decide to buy it from him. He'd spent a lot on the bar having it refurbished and even more on building the restaurant and he was offering it to her at a much lower price than he could get for it. Allie told him that there really was no need to drop the price just because it was her but Will explained that he would much prefer that someone he respected and trusted bought the bar instead of some random stranger that didn't know the staff and would no doubt want to change a lot of what he had done. Allie had a few ideas that she ran passed him and he was happy that she was taking it so seriously.

“I've not decided yet though, Bea thinks I should do it but I have a few concerns, and she has a few problems of her own right now that she needs to work out. Can I give you a definite answer by the end of the week?”

“I can give you a month if you need it before I seriously have to think about finding another buyer and if there's anything I can help you with you just have to ask, while I'm still here I'll always be here for you you know that, and even after I leave I'll only ever be a phone call away.”

By the time they had finished talking Shane had already opened up and the first few customers were already in the bar by the time Allie made it back to him.

Liz hadn't seen anyone all morning, Franky hadn't left her office once and Bea and David had been in her office, the phone hadn't rung and that was unusual especially for a Monday morning. It was fast approaching lunch time and she didn't know if she should just go to the deli and get lunch or suggest that they all went to the diner. She didn't want to disturb Franky, judging by her manner that morning she doubted that her mood would have improved that much, on the odd occasion she'd been in a bad mood in the past she'd always found it better to leave her alone, if she wanted to talk she would.

Bea was just walking out of her office as Liz was walking back in.

“I wasn't sure what you wanted to do for lunch love so I walked down to the deli, should I take Franky hers?”

“Let me, I'll make the coffee first, I need to speak to her anyway bad mood or not.”

“Are you sure that's wise love? You might end up arguing.”

“Weather she's in a bad mood or not when I tell her what I need to say we may end up arguing anyway.”

Bea finished making them all coffee and took the bags that contained her and Franky's sandwiches from Liz giving her a small smile.

“Wish me luck.”

Liz helped her by opening the door for her and closing it quietly after she walked in, stopping in front of her desk Bea placed Franky's coffee and sandwich down in front of her as she looked up from her phone, smiling at her in a tense way. Bea placed her own mug and sandwich down on the desk taking a seat she gently smiled back, a heavy silence settled between them joining the uneasy tension that hung in the atmosphere. Their unsettled eyes roamed unceremoniously around the room as they tried to avoid making any eye contact, Bea moved uncomfortably in her seat she had to tell Franky what was on her mind and it might not be the right time but there may never be a right time. They ate in complete silence Bea using the time to organise her thoughts and decide how best to say what needed saying, by the time they had finished their lunch Bea was starting to feel painfully out of place, like a slice of pepperoni that had mistakenly made its way onto a vegetarian pizza. It was no longer the place she wanted to be and half of her brain was just telling her to walk away but she couldn't leave Franky like that, she would stay as long as they needed her but as soon as she could leave she was going where to and to do what she had no clue but she had plenty of time to think about that.

The earlier tension between them seemed to vanish as Franky closed her eyes and let her limbs fell loose, her head tilted backwards into the leather chair but she remained silent. The mood she had woken up in had long since disappeared and she wanted to apologise for her earlier behaviour but saying sorry was like trying to cover a bullet hole with a band aid when she had no idea why she had woken up in such a foul mood. They sat for a little longer in silence before Franky opened her eyes and sat forward, the word sorry seemed so meaningless and overused, sorry doesn't fix everything you've done wrong, trying to explain herself wasn't easy and Bea told her that she didn't need to apologise Bea had been known to walk into the office in a bad mood more often than Franky ever did.

When Bea finally found the courage to tell Franky what was on her mind she sat and listened without interruption, it was hard to take in what she was hearing but she'd guessed this day was coming, she knew Bea had been different since she had returned to work she'd been distracted and had no enthusiasm for the job anymore. Franky knew straight away what they should do, it would give Bea some time away from the office and give David the time he needed to finish his course, it wasn't ideal and if Bea wanted to leave she couldn't stop her but she hoped it would work out, Bea agreed with her, it wasn't going to be a long term plan and would give her the space she needed to decide what she was going to do. Franky suddenly jumped up from her chair asking where David was and rushed out of her office to talk to him, sometimes she could be as graceful as a sledgehammer in a knife fight but that was Franky's way and she always got things done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who keeps following. I'm not sure when I will get another chapter finished, I seem to be struggling a little, but I will persevere.


	126. Chapter 126

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe how long it has taken me to write this chapter, I have found myself starting at a blank page, I'm guessing a completely blank expression on my face, my thoughts clashing with what I was trying to do. I must have sighed at least a million times and still ended up writing nothing. Then I wrote about 500 words and my thoughts descended into a jumbled mess again. I wanted to get on and write this chapter, after all I knew what I wanted to write, I think I suddenly realized that it wasn't actually my thoughts stopping me from writing it was simply my own laziness.
> 
> The end of this chapter, well....NSFW.

Franky took it hard they were a team, they worked well together and there wasn't a living person that could deny that but it was ultimately Beas decision and she could understand it, she didn't have to like it though. David had been in shocked when Franky had told him her idea, he wasn't sure what was the biggest shock Bea leaving or Franky wanting him to work with her full time when he was qualified and had got his license. David had needed to speak to both of them, his whole timetable had been changed and he needed to discuss it with them and then Franky sprang her idea on him.

“And Bea agrees with you about this?”

“Dunno didn't ask, she wants to leave, nothin I can do to change that, maybe workin part time will change her mind.”

“We both know it won't.”

“Yer I guess, better go and get her hadn't I?”

Bea had moved from Franky's office and was sat chatting with Liz when Franky reappeared from her office hovering in the doorway for a few seconds before asking her if the three of them could sit down and talk. Bea agreed after all Franky hadn't shared her idea with her she'd just bolted out of her office. Franky's plan was simple Bea didn't sell her share of the business to anyone until after David was qualified, Bea had not expected that and wasn't ready to agree to that until Franky told her everything else, Bea and David would both work part time for the time being anyway, if Bea found something else that interested her Franky would have to find someone else who she was happy working with, Bea didn't mind the reduced time in the office but it didn't alter her initial plan of leaving completely. Eventually they all agreed that for now it was the best plan.

“I'm going home, according to this new schedule I shouldn't even be here Franky,” Bea laughed.

“Oh yer, but ya gotta work tomorrow.”

Liz was slightly confused when Bea left and had patiently waited for Franky to tell her what was going on but after an hour she was still no wiser. She was never the last to know what was going on but today no one seemed to want to tell her anything and that worried her a little.

When Bea arrived home there was no one there she had thought that Debbie would be home, pulling her phone from her pocket she completely forgot that she had her phone on silent while she was talking to Franky and she'd not rectifid that. She had a text from Debbie letting her know that she was going out with some friends and wouldn't be back until the next day, Bea rolled her eyes as she read it not that she minded, today was a good day, she knew Franky wasn't overjoyed about the prospect of her leaving altogether but her compromise for the time being anyway was definitely something she could work with. Sitting down for a few minutes nothing had really changed since the day before, nothing material anyway, she was just going to have more time on her hands. She didn't really like having nothing to fill her time with but today it felt like she was no longer swimming in concrete, like she had finally come up for air and the world was looking pretty damn peachy.

Allie arrived home to find Bea in the kitchen already preparing dinner.

“Did you decide that you didn't want to work today?” Allie asked with a huge grin on her face.

Bea glanced back over her shoulder, the corners of her lips fighting a smile with her eyebrows raised, she looked away before the mischievous look on Allies face spread to her own. She could swear that Allies exuberance for mischief was contagious. Bea tried to strengthen her resolve, to be aloof but it was too late she'd already glanced back over her shoulder and the grin on Allies face had already spread to her own.

“I didn't have to decide anything Franky and David have made the decision for me.”

“Oh god what did they do kick you out of the office?”

“Uh uh…..it was Franky's idea really.”

After explaining the mornings events to Allie who by now had taken a seat at the table listening to everything Bea was saying without a word.

“So you'll be home more? Does that mean I can find jobs for you to do around the house while I have to work?” Allie smiled.

There was always something about the way she smiled, it always made Bea feel as if butterflies had escaped from the pit of her stomach and that the sun had tumbled down from the sky and somehow made itself at home in her heart. Her smile was one of the things that always made her feel happy to be alive and made her feel just a little bit more human when things at work had be rough. Right from the very first time Allie had ever smiled at her any fear she felt had always been whisked away like a swarm of flies caught in a high wind. Excitement would rush through her veins as a glint of happiness flared in her eyes it would mirror in her own, the entire world around her could start collapsing but her heart would never be crushed as long as Allie always had that smile.

“Well I guess if there's anything that needs doing I can think about doing it, actually I was hoping that I could do a little research for you, you still haven't made a decision about the bar have you?”

“No….I've spoken to Will again and he said he could give me a month to decide so I guess we have plenty of time to make a final decision.”

“We is it now? You already know what I think, but whatever you decide I'm right behind you.”

“I know but it's a big decision, I was thinking that maybe when we go to New Zealand we could talk to your dad about it, you know, get an outside perspective on the whole thing. And I'm sure you should talk to him about what you want to do he may have some ideas that you could play around with…..Anyway, how do you really feel about working part time”

“I was a little pissed off at first, but then I realized that it's a good idea, I won't be sitting around at home all the time, and you know how easily I get bored!”

“Hmmm, yer I do…..do I have time for a shower?”

“You have all the time in the world, I'd only just decided what to make about 20 minutes before you got home, and Debs won't be home until tomorrow, apparently she's staying over with friends.”

Allie raised her eyebrow, “So I have you all to myself?”

“You do, so go and have a shower I'll be right here when you're done.”

Happy, Bea thought, was what she would always be when she was home first and Allie walked in, just knowing that most of the time that it would be just the two of them for the rest of the evening. She didn't need fireworks and constant chatter, snuggling together on the sofa and unwinding from their busy days in front of the tv was more than enough for her and certainly so much more than she'd ever though that she would have. Just being near her would light her up on the inside, when they were apart it always felt like every breath she took was never a full breath, and when she smiled her smile was always incomplete. Being with Allie was her favourite place in the world, she created a warmth in her soul, filled her with more love than she thought could exist and kept the fire burning in her heart. If that wasn't happiness then she had no idea what was, it was her definition of happiness anyway and she didn't much care for what anyone else thought.

Happiness had always been elusive for Bea, for years she'd always seen it in the faces around her, everyone she knew seemed to smile and laugh with ease. They hugged each other hello and goodbye, talked excitedly about movies or something funny they had seen on tv. She enjoyed a joke but the corners of her mouth never even twitched, she watched the comedy films that Debbie would make her watch but she never regaled the funny parts to anyone and she never hugged anyone except Debbie, ever.

Even though the first years of Debbie's life hadn't been the best happiness had always been so simple for her, it was hugs with her mum, playing games and a bedtime story safe in the knowledge that she would never let anything bad happen to her, the bad stuff just happened around her. Bea always made sure that everything Debbie needed was taken care of, she always had food and a place to sleep comfortably, after Harry was out of their lives she could have friends over for the first time in her life. The times she had always been most happy was when they were at the beach or walking in the woods, just the two of them. She never cared what time it was unless of course she was hungry then she would complain constantly, she'd throw a fit when something was going on that her brain couldn't quite grasp and Bea was sure she herself still did things like that from time to time. Even now when things didn't go her way she would still screw her face up and stamp her feet while she waved her hands around, Bea laughed at that because she knew that her own occasional tantrums looked exactly the same, not that she ever let her see them Franky was generally on the receiving end of her outbursts. Sometimes she had wished that she could see the world through Debbie's eyes, now though she was sure she knew what real happiness was and she wasn't about to let it go.

Opening the backdoor to let in some cool air she went back to making dinner, there was always something about chopping vegetables that she found soothing, something about the sound of the knife cut before the blade met the wooden chopping board relaxed her. She worked slowly in the silence of the kitchen listening to the random sounds filtering in through the door and the wind as it whistled around the house and with each cut there was a burst of aroma, yes she was happy.

Her thoughts returned to her current dilemma, what was it she wanted to do next? At first she drew a blank, there was a whole world of things and possibilities that she could explore but nothing really stood out, then all at once idea after idea came to her each one being better than the last. Disorganised thought after thought flooded her mind like an endless river and she felt more awake than she had in the last few weeks. Ideas filled her head so much that she never even heard Allie walk up behind her, she was her true inspiration. Wrapping her arms around her waist Bea spun around, she inspired her with her touch, her eyes said everything that she could never say with any words, she was transfixed in that moment, totally lost in her eyes and speechless.

“You know I heard it said that if you think too long before taking a step you'll spend the rest of your life on one foot, maybe you should stop thinking so much.”

Right then the idea hit her, Allie was worried about taking on the responsibility of the bar and restaurant by herself, what better idea could she have, they could buy it together. Bea knew she had no clue about how to run either but she had always been a quick learner and Allie was most definitely an excellent teacher.

“Maybe I don't need to think anymore.”

“Is that right, so come on then tell me.”

“You're worried about buying the bar and restaurant because for some inexplicable reason you don't think you can do it by yourself…what if I said you wouldn't have to do it by yourself?”

“But I will, I know I'll have Shane and Linda who can keep the bar running without me so I could concentrate on the restaurant but I'll still be the one in charge…honestly Bea I don't know how Will does it, and I'll have to work longer hours we both know how many hours Will puts in. That means no matter what you choose to do we'll hardly see each other and I don't want that.”

“Allie, sit down for a minute.”

Allie frowned a little but sat down, she was about to give up on the idea of owning the bar, there had been a ray of hope but it had started to dwindle when she thought about hardly having any time to spend with Bea.

“Hear me out before you say this is a bad idea ok?” Allie just nodded her eyes fixed on Bea. “We both know I've been struggling to think of something I want to do, and while I'm only working with Franky part time I reckon I'm going to be bored beyond belief by the end of the week, well apart from Sunday, we still have our Sundays together. You might think I'm crazy, and maybe I am a little, but why don't we buy the bar together? I could come in while Wills still there and learn the ropes, not that I want to take over, we'd own it together, promote Shane if that's what you think is best, Linda as well, hell you know the business as well as Will does….”

The blanket of blackness that she had felt was surrounding her was in a matter of moments replaced by an intense burst of light that pierced through that darkness, her heart soared almost bursting with light and love for the woman stood right in front of her. Waves of happiness and relief washed over her and she felt it right to her bones. There was still a chance to own the bar, all her doubts were washed away and she felt dizzy with exaltation, closing her eyes for a few seconds she savoured the moment as it fizzled inside of her.

Bea waited for her to say something, anything, even if it was to tell her that it was the worst idea she'd ever heard but for a couple of minutes she just sat there without saying a word, Bea started to turn before walking away fearing that she had said something wrong when Allie reached out and grabbed her arm. The moment her hand landed on her arm she felt her heart skip a beat.

“How long have you been thinking about this?”

Bea didn't say anything and Allie didn't press her for an answer which came as a surprise because Allie would usually want an answer.

“You may not have thought this through properly but I know that your hearts intentions always tell me everything you never say.”

Bea turned back to her and looked at her as if it were the first time she'd ever really seen her, even with no makeup, wearing a pair of sweats and one of Beas old t shirts she was the most beautiful thing she'd ever laid eyes on. Her eyes, the colour of a perfect raindrop on a blue aster, stole Beas breath as she looked right into her soul, her blonde hair held all the essence of summer, she truly was a goddess of the sun, her hands strong yet so gentle and her mouth, how much she wanted to kiss that mouth.

Allie stood up moving her head closer to Bea who stood frozen from both fear and excitement as Allie leaned in resting her forehead against Beas. They both closed their eyes and their breath was shaky.

“Thank you.” Allie said in barely more than a whisper.

“What for?” Bea asked her voice low and husky.

“For always putting my needs before your own and for just being you.” Allies voice wavered slightly.

Bea pulled her head away slightly before leaning in kissing Allie softly on the lips. Pulling apart they both took shallow shaky breaths as they looked into each other's eyes. Allie, unable to contain her feelings any more, moved her hands to Beas face pulling her back in for a fiery and passionate kiss, her hands finding their way around her body feeling each curve of her perfectly formed physique. Pulling apart and opening their eyes they stared deep into each other's eyes, Beas full of love and wonder, Allies full of a mixture of amazement and passion. They don't need words to communicate in that moment, Bea leaned in and softly kissed Allies neck as she let out a small whimper of anticipation, working her way back to Allies smooth, tender lips she planted an intense kiss.

“I think we should forget about dinner.” Allie sighed.

“You aren't hungry?”

“Only for you.”

Breaking apart Allie took Bea by the hand leading her out of the kitchen and up stairs to their room. Arriving at their bedroom door Allie leaned in kissing Bea with everything she had as Bea tried numerous times unsuccessfully to reach behind her for the door handle, finally finding it they almost fell through it. Allie walked her back flush against the wall as their body's melted together their lips still moving feverishly against each other's.

Allies trembling fingers began trying to undo the buttons on Beas shirt but it was a struggle. Bea pulled away from her slightly before kissing the length of her neck.

“Do you need me to help you with that?”

“I think I do.” Allie sighed, she felt as if she had no control of her fingers when it came to buttons, even the simplest of touches from Bea made her hands tremble.

Somehow, somewhere between Bea continuing to kiss her neck and Allies hands roaming the contours of Beas back her shirt finally fell to the floor. Allie couldn't see her semi naked torso but she could feel it, her hands traveling to her stomach, she loved the sensation of her toned muscles twitching beneath her fingertips. Trailing her fingers across her hips and up her sides forced a sharp intake of breath from Bea making a smile form on Allies mouth, she couldn't help it, Bea was perfect, curves in all the right places, perfectly soft skin yet she was firm and strong at the same time. ‘So fucking sexy,’ Allie murmured.

Allie pulled off her top, impatient to feel her skin against hers, wrapping her arms around her waist she pulled Bea firmly against her as their mouths met again in a passionate kiss, Allies body was on fire and she yearned for Beas touch more than anything. Allie pulled away their lips breaking apart and she watched Beas chest heaving as she tried to steady her breathing, lust burning in her eyes.

“Did I do something wrong?” Bea asked breathlessly.

Allie gently shook her head as she spun them around and guided Bea back towards the bed both of them falling back onto it. Some of Allies hair fell around her face making Bea laugh when it tickled her cheek, reaching up Bea pushed the loose strands back behind her ear. Somehow Bea managed to move so that they were both laying on the bed properly as Allie looked down at her.

“You're so beautiful,” Allie whispered as her eyes searched Beas face before kissing the corner of her mouth, her cheek then the length of her jaw, running her nose along her skin as she worked her way to her ear she deeply inhaled her scent. Gently tugging on her ear she felt Bea shiver beneath her and the only thought she had was that she needed to get her out of her jeans as soon as possible.

Slipping a hand between them Allie unfastened the button and zipper before slowly inching herself down her body tugging her jeans down inch by painfully slow inch as she went, drinking in the sight of the woman she loved so much as she went. Dumping the offending item of clothing on the floor next to the bed she crawled back up Beas body kissing her as she went until she again reached her neck. Snaking a hand underneath Bea she found the clasp of her bra and popped it open before easing the straps down her arms, it joined her jeans on the floor as Allie flashed her a huge grin.

“Don't you look pleased with yourself?” Bea breathed out as Allie bit her bottom lip trying not to smirk at her.

Pushing her thigh against Beas core she earned a moan from Bea as she rocked her hips against her before Allie kissed down the length of her neck, across her chest eventually taking one of her nipples into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it.

“Oh fuck.” Bea groaned as Allie raised her eyes to look back at her. “You're wearing far too many clothes for my liking.” Allies eyebrow quirks up as if to challenge Bea to say something else but she didn't. Quickly rolling off her she pulled the rest of her own clothes off realizing that Bea was still wearing her panties she put that to rights within seconds.

Returning to her previous position Allie kissed her with more passion than either of them thought possible before she slowly started her descent the length of her body kissing every inch of her as she went. Kissing back up the inside of her thigh Allie completely ignored where she knew she needed her the most and carried on kissing her way back up the full length of her body.

“Fucking tease.” Bea almost hissed at her.

Allie ignored her and carried on what she was doing before finally reaching her lips, kissing her with a hunger that Bea felt through her entire body. Bea was sure that she would burst into flames any second as she felt Allie press her thigh against her core, tangling her fingers in her hair she ground her hips into Allies thigh trying to gain as much pressure as she possibly could to relieve the ache she felt. Allies fingers trailed lightly, almost imperceptibly down over her stomach as she shifted her own position slightly dipping her fingers between Beas wet folds and lightly teasing her clit causing Bea to jerk her hips forward desperate for more contact as Allies fingers moved lower she slowly entered her, slowly she thrust in and out of her gradually picking up her pace as she moved her thumb to swipe her clit. Allie kissed down her neck and across her chest listening to every moan that escaped Beas mouth.

“Fuck….Allie…please don't….don't stop.” Bea moaned out.

Recapturing Beas lips for a few moments before she felt her arch her back as she came undone, Bea was a moaning mess, one hand in Allies hair the other grabbing at the sheets beside her as Allie slowed her movements before removing her fingers as Bea fell back against the mattress a light sheen of sweat coating her body trying desperately to get her breathing under control. Allie moved to lay beside her, draping her arm over her stomach and resting her head against her chest listening to her heart as it slowly returned to its natural rhythm.

An hour or so later Allie found herself being the one trying to pull herself back to some semblance of her usual self as Bea wrapped her up in her arms and rested her head against Allies naked shoulder. Sometimes just allowing Allie to touch her still felt like a dream, that reality would set in soon and none of it was real but she knew it was, sometimes life just got in the way and all either of them were left with was a delicious memory and Bea was now more determined than ever that things needed to stop getting in the way of their happiness. Allie hadn't played any part in her decision to leave her current job, even though she knew if she had asked she would have have done it if it made her happy. They had hardly spoken about it, Allie hadn't wanted Bea to think that she was pressuring her into anything, but after everything that had happened Bea knew she couldn't keep working on cases that could put either of them in danger and her refusal to take on the cases that Franky wanted them to would not only set her and Franky against each other but make her a version of herself that she didn't want to be.

“I love you.” Allie whispered.

“I love you to, so much more than I though could ever be possible.”

“You always say that.”

“Because it's true…I’ll always be your shadow when you feel alone.”

"I know," Allie whispered, "And as long as my heart keeps beating there will always be a place where you live and as long as my mind keeps working I will forever hold you in my thoughts."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With any luck I will get myself back on track now and be able to put this tiresome episode of not writing this chapter behind me.
> 
> I did choose to stay home this morning and finish this instead of going to the gym as I had intended to do!


	127. Chapter 127

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished this chapter, on the plus side I did finish it in a week. Concentrating is a bit of a problem and I'm planning on having a lazy day, well probably two since we have thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow, and we could certainly use some rain, not sure I want the temperatures to drop though!

By Wednesday afternoon Bea was glad to see David arrive, the second he walked into the office they had now agreed to share Bea jumped up from the chair, letting him know that Franky was out of the office on a case and wouldn't be back for the rest of day. She had no real idea where she had gone and in all honesty she didn't really care, stopping at the door she told him that if he really needed help with anything she would of course come back to the office but she was going over to the bar and would be there for the rest of the afternoon.

The previous evening Bea had told Allie that since she was only in the office in the morning she would go straight to the bar, Allie had questioned her again not sure that Bea would really want to work at the bar after having had such an exciting job. Bea had found that slightly amusing, she had never found it exciting, Franky did when it meant having to leave the office, most of the work they did was mundane and as they all knew some parts of it were just dangerous and it was those parts that she would be glad to see the back of.

Arriving at the bar there was no sign of Allie or Will, only Shane behind the bar and the usual handful of regulars who sat scattered around the place. Shane looked up and smiled at her,

“Allie and Will are waiting for you in the office, think they've arranged to have lunch in the restaurant.”

Bea thanked him and made her way through to office, finding the pair of them going over something on the computer. Clearing her throat she made her presence known earning her a huge smile from Allie.

“You made it.”

“Did you really think I wouldn't?” Bea asked as she slipped out of her jacket and hung it up before sitting in the empty seat next to Allie.

“I think you may just have made a good decision Bea, you look happier than I've seen you look in the last few weeks, I was beginning to think that Allie here was doing something wrong.” Will chuckled.

“I think I have, not sure Allie believes me though, I need a change of pace. Couldn't ever see myself going back to hairdressing but this…well this is a whole new challenge, I just hope you've got the patience of a saint Will I've never worked in a bar.”

“You'll pick it up in no time, besides as the owners you'll have plenty to keep you occupied, how often do you ever see me behind the bar? And with the restaurant as well, honestly if it weren't for Allie I doubt I would have coped. Now let's go and get some lunch before it gets crowded.”

Over lunch they discussed everything, Bea had actually spent most of her morning thinking about questions that she needed to ask Will and she was more than satisfied with every answer he gave. Over the past few weeks her feelings towards work had been neutral for the most part, to feel anything else she would have needed a positive or negative event to happen, but even then after the happiness or sadness had passed she would have returned straight back to neutral ground and just be content to sit in her office without any drama. She had constantly seen people who always seemed to be low in the course of her work and she knew before long she would probably end up there, she had no intention of letting herself fall into a place where she felt like she was drowning in air. She'd also stumbled into people who swung from one extreme to the other one minute they were happier than she though a person could ever be the next lower than she had ever found herself fall.

After lunch she spent most of her time with Allie being shown everything that she could possibly think she needed to see. Will had gone out, telling them that he was going to make sure that everything would be in order by the time they got back from New Zealand. Following Allie around and listening to her speak so passionately about things Bea had no idea about made her feel so light, she knew that she had been given more than she ever thought she would be worthy of. Right from the beginning Allie had made her feel love, joy and happiness so strongly that she felt it right down to her bones, and given that before she knew she'd known enough pain, both mental and physical, she was still surprised that it hadn't all been enough to fragment her soul into a million pieces, it had taken her so long to try and become a version of herself that she could be happy with but as soon as Allie had entered her life she had somehow managed to reassemble her mind and put herself back together. She existed now in a state of balance and she had only one person to thank for that, she loved the way she was now, it was the most amazing place to be, she had time to think and stretch her mind and she had the most amazing person by her side to love who loved her right back.

Before either of them knew it it was almost time to leave, Bea left Allie to finished what she need to do and headed home, stepping out of the bar the coolness of the evening air elevated her, she felt like she was seeing things from a new perspective and that gave her new reason to step forward with a new found confidence. It might be the middle of winter but there was a new beauty about it, a new kind of clarity, she found a new kind of thinking and noticed small details in her surroundings that she hadn't given a second glance at earlier in the day, like how a tree so devoid of any sign of life still held the promise that spring wasn't that far away. Buying the bar with Allie gave her a new promise of a new life and new adventures for both of them.

Bea had already made her mind up that the three of them were going out for dinner while Debbie was home and had managed to get reservations at one of her favourite Italian restaurants for that night, Debbie would never argue about going out to eat and her and Allie hadn't actually been out in quite a while. She'd already got a couple of surprises lined up for their time in New Zealand with her dads help but they didn't leave for a few days and wanted to do something while Debbie was still at home, she would be heading back to Sydney on Sunday and they still hadn't mentioned their plans to her.

Walking into the house she found Debbie laying on the sofa her head in a book.

“I forgot to mention it before but we’re going out this evening for dinner.”

Closing the book she was reading and sitting up Debbie frowned, “Can I order pizza then? I'm not cooking for myself.”

“When I said we're going out for dinner I did mean the three of us.”

Debbie didn't wait for her to say anymore, jumping off the sofa she ran upstairs to jump in the shower and get ready leaving Bea stood looking at an empty sofa. Shrugging off her jacket she threw it over the back of the now empty sofa before kicking off her boots shaking her head as she did, Debbie was always in a hurry especially when there had been any mention of food.

Walking upstairs she reached their bedroom, pushing the slightly ajar door open and kicking it closed behind her, she quickly stripped herself of her clothes finally realizing why Allie always complained about smelling like the bar everyday when she arrived home. She hadn't actually spent much time behind the bar but the smell seemed to linger.

Stepping into the shower she knew Allie would be home any minute and she hadn't told her about her plans for the evening, she wanted to surprise her but now she thought that she really should have said something earlier in the day, she'd spent the afternoon with her which had kept her from following her usual routine, now all she could hope for that she wouldn't be as tired as she usually was when she got home.

Standing under the constant cascade of hot water she enjoyed the feel of the water running down her body, she wasn't certain at first but she thought she heard the ensuite door open and close, ignoring it she stood under the water for a few more seconds before she heard the shower door open and there was only one person that could be, Allie. It was rarely a good idea for them to be in the shower together when Debbie was at home and usually they tried to avoid it happening. Trying to keep her mind from wondering became increasingly difficult when she felt Allies arms wrap around her waist and her body press into her back. Feeling her hot breath on her neck before her lips made contact and her fingers of one hand tracing patterns across the smooth skin on her stomach.

Bea turned around in her arms leaning in she planted a delicate kiss on Allies neck causing a wave of pleasure to run through her entire body, everything about her was intoxicating. Kissing her way gently up her neck finally arriving at her lips, everything around them disappeared as they both became lost in the moment. Pulling back before things could become too heated Bea looked at her and smiled.

“Relax babe I didn't come in her to jump on you, I'm well aware Debbie's in the house somewhere.”

“Yer….she might still be in the shower.”

Allie looked a little puzzled, “Is she off out again?”

Bea looked anywhere but at Allie for a second or two before she sighed, “I should have said something earlier but it slipped my mind…I…errr…managed to make us a reservation last week for dinner tonight for the three of us…if you're tired though I guess I could cancel, our table will get snapped up pretty quick.”

“Well if I'd have known I probably could have come home a little earlier, what time is our reservation for?”

“Seven,” Bea said quietly.

“That doesn't give us great deal of time to get ready, good thing I didn't come in her to try and ravish ya!”

“You want me to cancel?”

“No…I didn't mean that how it may have sounded, better get showered quick…oh fuck, what am I gonna wear? Next time you spring something on me like this I may just decide not to go though.”

“Sorry.” Bea murmured.

“Don't be…I like it when you surprise me, a little warning is always preferable but if it means not having to cook….”

They showered together in record time, getting dressed was another story, Bea was ready and Allie was on her third choice of outfit when they heard Debbie knock on the door and asked if they were ready. Allie said she just needed a few more minutes causing Bea to laugh, sometimes Allie took forever to get ready and if she didn't hurry up there was every possibility that they would be late. When Allie was almost ready Bea decided that it might be for the best if she went downstairs, stopping to give Allie a gentle kiss she walked out of the bedroom closing the door behind her.

Allie couldn't stop her thoughts from wondering as she watched Bea walk away, she was the only drug she would ever need again in her life, she sent her brain into a frenzy of sparks so much better than any drug she'd ever taken. One simple touch of her hand could leave her breathless, the feelings that would rock her body as she kissed her always engulfed her senses and chased any worries she may have away. When they were together she lived in the moment, any thoughts of the past or future would melt away, she was utterly addicted to Bea but that made her feel safe because she knew Bea was just as addicted to her.

Just before seven they arrived at Scopri, Bea had been there a few times in the past usually with Franky and the rest of their friends after they had wrapped up a case, it was never Boomers favourite place to eat but after the first time they had ever eaten there it was on the top of Beas list. They were shown to their table almost as soon as they arrived, their waiter was one Bea recognised from previous visits and he recognised her as soon as he brought the menus over. Allie scanned the extensive wine list looking across the table at Bea,

“What's wrong?”

“I've never heard of half of these wines,” Allie whispered.

“You want me to order?”

Allie just nodded as she gave her a small smile, Bea didn't know why she was so worried it was only a wine list and then she thought about the food menu, it wasn't all in Italian thankfully and even she struggled with it sometimes when an idea hit her. Getting Patrick's attention she ordered a bottle of Paolovino Pinot Grigio hoping that Allie would like her choice, Debbie just wanted water and Patrick took the wine list from Bea saying he wouldn't be long.

“Did I make the wrong choice of restaurant?” Bea asked as she took one of Allies hands in hers.

“No, I like it, it's small but you don't feel like you're in other people's way….kind of classy without being pretentious, not like some places I've seen, and I say seen as in looking through a window, never thought I'd ever be in a place like this in a million years.”

Debbie leaned closer to Allie whispering in her ear, “You know you deserve the best, we both think so, and you know mum would do anything for you.”

“I know, and you know I'd do anything for her, I always will.” Allie whispered back.

Patrick returned to the table with their wine and a jug of ice water asking if they were ready to order.

“I was thinking, as long as both of you are happy with the idea we should order the seven course degustation.”

“Seven courses! Bea, babe I know me and Debbie eat a lot but I think that's too much even for us.”

Bea laughed, “I'm sorry, that sounds like a lot I know but it's not, they aren't full courses we just sample small portions of all the head chefs signature dishes.”

Debbie and Allie looked at each other before shrugging and agreeing with what Bea had suggested, Patrick took the menus from them and disappeared. They sat chatting about Debbie's impending return to university and their trip to New Zealand, Bea was relieved that Allie looked way more relaxed than she had when they first arrived.

“There is a reason for this, we have something we need to tell you Deb.”

“I knew it, wait don't tell me….you’re gonna ask Allie to marry you!”

“What? No, I…err, we I mean...” Bea could hardly believe the words that had just left her daughters mouth, it wasn't something that had ever crossed her mind. Her words rocked her mind leaving her thoughts to move in foreign ways, marriage, the word alone should fill her with fear and dread after the train wreck of a marriage she had endured with Harry but as she looked at Allie she quickly realized that it didn't and the thought suddenly seemed like a possibility.

“What I think your mum was trying to tell you is that we're going to buy the bar together, you already know that she's only working part time…she had the idea that it's what we should do, so unless she suddenly changes her mind….” Allie trailed off seeing the frown that crept onto Beas face.

“I won't be changing my mind about that, never gonna happen.”

Debbie looked between the pair a huge smile on her face, “Ok so I may have jumped the gun a little but you gotta admit my first thought was a good one! I think it's great news, about time you left Franky to grow up a little bit, but who's working with her when you're not there?”

“David, his timetables changed, actually it was Franky's idea, and I wouldn't let Franky hear you say that about her Deb.”

Before they could continue their conversation their food arrived, Allie could honestly say she had never seen anything like it in her life. Sampling small portions of the head chefs signature dishes seemed like a dream to her, she knew she would never have been able to decide what to order from the menu even with Beas help. The food was amazing, ‘plates of freshly prepared love,’ Bea had said and Allie had to agree. Everything they ate reflected what was in season and the three of them talked about every dish they tried, Debbie raving about the air dried wagyu and Allie just wanted more of the lamb ragu, Bea deciding that as soon as they got everything sorted with the bar she would hire the first floor room for them and all their friends.

Arriving home a short while later Debbie headed straight for bed leaving Bea and Allie cuddled up on the sofa, Allie let out a long satisfied sigh.

“I can't believe that we're really doing this, what if you get sick of seeing me all day though.”

“Never, I just wish things could move along a little quicker and I may still have to work with Franky for a while, unless I can convince her to find someone else to work with her until David can work full time.”

“You think you could do that?”

“I'm going to try as soon as we get back from New Zealand, no point in causing an argument with her before we leave.”

Allies smile shined like the stars in the night sky but it was always that way, she brightened any room she was in with her smile. Snuggling in closer to her Bea felt impatient, she wanted to be done with investigating, she never thought she would ever think like that when she first got her license but then it was all new and fresh and the cases they worked back then were simple, as their reputation had grown the complexity of the cases they took on grew as well as the hours they found themselves working. Sometimes Bea had felt guilty spending so little time with Debbie and relying on Liz to watch her if she was out of the office, Debbie had always said that she didn't mind sitting around the office and her and Liz would joke around, even taking her out for hours on end when she was younger and Bea was rushed off her feet. It was time to let it go, close that chapter of her life and move on to the next. Not that she wasn't thankful for taking that career path, if she'd done anything else she was sure that she would never have met Allie and that thought was something she didn't want to think about, she knew anything could have happened to Allie if she hadn't found her that day and in her head none of the outcomes that had played out were ever good.

Now the thoughts of the new chapter in their lives they were going to write word by word and line by line was fast approaching Bea felt confident, more confident than ever before, it was like the confidence of the phoenix that was reborn in the hot pain of flames. It was a hard won confidence, anchored in her belief that Allie had given her strength that she never knew she possessed, Allie had given her everything and she knew that she grew a little more everyday, she had purged the fear that had been so deep rooted in her mind and body and had cleared the way for love to grow and take root in everything she was. Yes she still felt raw and vulnerable from time to time, she doubted that she could ever rid herself completely of those feelings but she was confident that as long as they were together those feelings would never last for long. She was sure the feelings she had for her would never end until the day her body ceased to function and her soul had to move on into whatever was to come after, although she was pretty sure that her feelings were embedded in her soul and no matter what she would always love her. Even on those really dark days that she had experienced recently, through the arguments big and small that love rode underneath everything, even when they were apart it kept her from sinking back into the mire of her old way of thinking that she had always fell into when things turned to shit. No matter what was to come in their future, no matter if she fell deep into some deeply buried fear Allie would always be there like solid ground under her feet to steady her and give her the support and time she needed to climb back into a positive frame of mind.

Allie yawned “We should go to bed, we both have another full day at work tomorrow, and no doubt you're going to be grumpy in the morning because you're in the office all day tomorrow.”

“Yer…. I hope Franky isn't out all day tomorrow, I'll have to actually work if she is.” Bea giggled as she stood up taking Allie by the hand before leading her upstairs.

Laying in bed in their darkened room cuddled up together Bea still felt giddy with excitement. She knew the next few days she was going to be restless, she'd want to run, to shout to tell everyone about their plans but until the deal was signed she knew that she should wait. She also knew that sitting in her office would be difficult, she would find it hard to sit still, would find it next to impossible to read anything and no way would she be able to concentrate on her computer screen. It felt like her mind was a butterfly, no matter what she tried to concentrate on to distract herself from her excited thoughts of the future it kept fluttering back to that future and left her feeling tingly all over. Allie was already asleep by the time she finally closed her eyes, holding onto her a little tighter sleep soon claimed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next couple of chapters will be back in New Zealand so I better get doing a little more research into these surprises Bea has up her sleeve for Allie. And please no one mention Wentworth to me....I think we should all put our heads together and write a couple of seasons worth of material for them.


	128. Chapter 128

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think the thunderstorm we had on Friday may have helped blow some cobwebs out of my brain...or at least it gave me a jumpstart when it came to writing.

Bea knew it was early, really early when there wasn't the slightest bit of light struggling to get passed the curtains, hearing a light drum of rain on the window she opened her eyes bringing her hand down in what felt like a semi drunken stupor onto her alarm clock to shut it up. She hadn't had a thing to drink the evening before but this early in a morning her brain didn't fire too well causing almost the same effect as a couple of bottles of wine. Rolling over to where Allie should be she found her side of the bed empty and cold, she listened for any sign of her being in the shower but heard nothing. She wasn't in the mood for breakfast, getting out of bed to make breakfast was the last thing she wanted to do anyway, she'd regret not eating by the time the sun was up she knew that, but making anything this early in the morning really did feel like it would be out of the scope of her abilities right then.

Lifting her head from the pillow she looked around the room, seeing the outline of their suitcases up against the wall remembering that their clothes for the day were laid on top of them suddenly relieved that her clear head the night before had thought ahead and got them ready so that her crack of dawn brain might just cope with getting showered and dressed. Then she remembered why they had to be up so early, Debbie was on an early flight back to Sydney, 0800 was early for Debbie on a Sunday morning. Groaning she dropped her head back to the pillow and pulled the covers up over her head, her mind was clouded with grey she hated Debbie leaving but she should feel happier today, not about her leaving but because later in the day her and Allie were flying over to New Zealand.

Still laying in bed wondering why Allie hadn't woken her up when she woke up her mood ricocheted between low and even lower, she felt like she had zero energy or motivation even though she knew she really had to get out of bed. Hearing two sets of footsteps on the stairs she guessed that Allie and Debbie had both woken up and had gone downstairs, pulling the covers from her face she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. The door slowly opened and she could hear them both giggling, this could end badly for her if they were both up to something and when they were both giggling like a pair of naughty school kids something had clearly amused them. Bracing herself for whatever they were up to she heard one of them put something down before it went quiet for a few seconds, suddenly she felt one of them land on top of her, before the lamp flicked on.

“Mum come on you have to get up!” Debbie's eager voice echoed in her ears and she groaned.

Opening her eyes she broke into a grin, “What's so important we have to be up at this hour?”

“Mum! Stop messing about, you weren't even asleep.”

“You got me, the alarm woke me up, why are you both up so early?”

“I got up and mama was already sat in the kitchen, she said she was too excited to sleep any longer, we made breakfast…..so come on I have to get back to uni and you two have to get ready to visit gramps.”

After eating her breakfast Bea bounced out of bed showered and got dressed all melancholy thoughts from earlier forgotten. She had been surprised by Debbie's mood, she only ever had two at such an early hour, this morning her dial was firmly set in the good mood position, meaning that nothing could change it and that was unusual for the early hour. The forecast for the day was going to be an optimistic one, even though they didn't have much time to spend with each other, the alternative though, a very grumpy Debbie Bea was sure that if she'd had to face that she would have gladly donated her ears to charity. A grumpy Debbie first thing in the morning was never a pleasant experience!

  
Arriving at the airport the gloom of the winter morning seemed to creep over Bea, seeping into her pores and travelling straight to her heart. Crossing the car park, the three of them arm in arm, Beas heart sank a little more knowing that they wouldn't see Debbie for another few weeks. From the blanket of the dark sky came the steady rain again, moving in like a mist that moved in chaotic directions, heavy enough to soak them through if they hadn't been already so close to the terminal entrance. Bea didn't want to feel sad, it sounded like something so flimsy and something she thought that by now she should be able to cast off with the thoughts that they wouldn't be apart for that long. Being sad was never a flimsy thing to her, sometimes it would sit like a seed in her chest just waiting for the right conditions to grow sending out its roots to choke what little happiness she still held onto.

Debbie hugged Allie first, telling her to make sure they enjoyed themselves in New Zealand and to keep her up to date with how things were going with the bar. Turning to face Bea she wasn't surprised when her mum held onto her tightly as if she never wanted to let her go, snuggling in closer to her mum everything felt slightly different this time, she knew she didn't want to watch her leave again but something had changed and Debbie figured that it had a lot to do with her new choice of career.

“I think you're the only person I've ever known mum who can give indefinite hugs.” Debbie giggled.

Bea let out a breathy laugh, “Maybe, but there's nothing else I'd rather do right now…I'm going to miss you.”

“I'll miss you too, I always do but it's never going to be forever and you'll be with gramps later on so please don't get upset, I'll call you when I get to Sydney and I expect one of you to call me when you land so I know you arrived safely.”

At that moment Bea squeezed her a fraction tighter and Debbie felt herself melt into her embrace a little more as every muscle lost any tension that had been there. This was how they should always leave each other, no tears, just a hug and the promise that it wouldn't be a separation for longer than was necessary, although she knew that as soon as she was out of sight Allie would have to comfort her when she cried again.

Watching Debbie walk away was always hard and Bea tried every time not to cry, Allie held her hand a little tighter as her tears silently fell and she knew this was the worst kind of crying because she didn't really let her emotions out. Her eyes welled up with sadness that she knew she couldn't take away, that kind of silent crying always made Allie feel like she could do nothing to really comfort her because it was something she had learnt to do a long time ago when Harry was still around.

Once Debbie was completely out of sight they walked slowly out of the airport back to the car, as they walked across the car park Allie wrapped her arm around Beas shoulders and pulled her closer. Even with the heaviness that had settled in her stomach it fluttered as soon as she felt Allies body pressed into hers, sinking into the warmth of her side, it was a simple gesture but it meant so much to her. Allies touch always made her feel warmer from the inside out and the future always felt less bleak, and Debbie leaving always left everything feeling bleak. Reaching the car Allie pulled her into a proper hug.

“You ok?”

“I will be, it has gotten easier letting her go, shouldn't let it get to me still should I? I know she's going to be back…except one day…one day she's going to be leaving home for good.”

“She'll never be far away you know that, for what it's worth she hates leaving you behind.”

“And you know that how?”

“Because she's just like you, and you only had each other for so long, then I rocked up and turned your lives upside down.”

“You didn't turn anything upside down, you made everything the way it was always meant to be.”

Allie leaned in brushing her lips against Beas, not innocently, hot, fiery, passionate and demanding. Bea wanted to pull away before she lost herself completely but she couldn't seem to do it, her senses had been seduced and she couldn't think straight. Allie pulled away, she knew they still had one or two jobs to do back at home before they had to leave.

“Bea,” Allie whispered slowly, prolonging each letter.

Bea smiled, her heart fluttered at her voice as she brought her hands up to rest on each side of her face before leaning in for one more kiss before they really had to get home.

———————————————

When they landed in Auckland the weather was just as miserable as it was back home and Bea was worried that if it was going to stay that way it would ruin the surprise she had planned for the next day, trying not to think about it too much they got their luggage after an impatient wait. Michael was waiting for them and spotted the pair before either of them saw him.

After hugging them both and asking how their flight had been they followed Michael out of the airport, the rain was falling steadily but as they walked across the car park the clouds broke slightly allowing through a flood of watery, brilliant sunlight.

“Don't look so worried Bea the forecast looks better for tomorrow.” Michael winked at her.

“I hope so, we could have stayed at home if we wanted to watch it rain.” Bea grumbled.

Allie wasn't quite sure why the weather should be a problem they were here to visit Michael and it was still winter, she was pretty sure that they would be spending most of the time in the house catching up even though it had only been a few weeks since they last saw each other. At least now Bea was fully recovered from her injuries so she guessed that she might actually want to show Allie a few of the places that they hadn't managed to find time to visit over Christmas, ‘that's it, has to be,’ she thought to herself as they got in the back seat of Michaels car.

Arriving at the house Michael informed them that he had the guest house all ready for them, “I thought you'd appreciate a little privacy,” he chuckled winking at Allie who who smiled back at him.

“We wouldn't have minded staying in the house with you dad.”

“I know baby girl but I'm sure you both saw enough of me while I was visiting you…anyway go and make yourselves at home while I get on with dinner, an hour should do it. Now off you go…oh and Bea everything is sorted.”

Allie looked between the two of them, Bea was up to something that much was obvious but she would wait for a while before she asked her what it was. Walking into the guest house Bea went straight to the bedroom taking both their suitcases with her. Finding the things that she'd asked her dad to buy for them she smiled to herself, ‘doesn't matter if it rains really,’ she said to herself as she heard Allie heading in her direction.

“I know you've already guessed I have something planned…tomorrow I'm taking you over to Rotoroa Island, I know it's not the best time of year to go and you'd love the beaches if it were summer but I think you'll enjoy it.”

“We could be sat in the middle of a field in the rain and I'd enjoy it as long as you were with me…So what's all this?” She asked pointing to the boxes and bags sitting neatly in a pile in the corner.

“Rotoroa is a conservation island so they have to try and keep it pest free so I asked dad to buy us one or two things, saves time and energy, besides you don't even own a pair of hiking boots!” Bea laughed when she heard the groan that escaped Allie.

“I should have know there'd be walking involved,” Allie grumbled as she pulled Bea into a hug, “But I'm not going to complain as long as you're there.”

“Good, we're staying the night, you can book one night in winter, in summer the minimum stay is two nights.”

After they both took a quick shower, they went back over to the house to spend some time with Michael and have dinner. Michael let Bea know that he'd got all the food she'd asked him to get for their trip leaving Allie completely puzzled until Bea told her that you have to take your own food over with you and take all your rubbish back with you when you leave. It was all new to Allie but she guessed that Bea must have been there before since she seemed to know everything about the place. Bea always talked excitedly about things she really wanted to show Allie and this time was no different. After filling in the biosecurity checklist they said goodnight to Michael and headed back to the guest house to get some sleep since they had to leave early.

———————————————

When Beas alarm went off at 6am she wished she'd not booked tickets for the ferry to take then over to Rotoroa Island, her dad had tried to talk her out of it when she first mentioned it favouring hiring a private boat to take them over but she had been determined that they were going to take the ferry and right now she was regretting her decision. Allie opened her eyes watching Bea as she sat on the edge of the bed yawning.

“Everything ok babe?”

“Hmmm, its just too early but the ferry leaves from pier 4 at 8:45am.”

“Better be getting up then.” Allie grinned as she got out of bed and went to the bathroom.

An hour later they were siting in the kitchen with Michael eating breakfast, their bags were packed and waiting by the front door, Michael had packed the food they were taking with them in plastic containers as was required. Bea sat telling Allie a little more about the trip over, the ferry made one stop at East Waiheke before it got to Rotoroa Island, the 75 minute journey across the Hauraki Gulf was generally a pleasant trip. Michael interrupted them a little later letting them know that they really should be going if they didn't want to miss the ferry.

Arriving at the pier Michael hugged them both letting them know that he would be there to meet them the next day when they got back before passing them their bags and leaving them to make their way to the ferry. Arriving at Rotoroa they were met by Phil and Ginnene, caretakers on the island, Bea handed over their biosecurity form before they had their bags checked for any pests that could have hitched a lift with them. They were told about the the wild life and endangered species that they would see before taking them over to their accommodation. Bea had booked the Mahoe holiday home for them for the night, it was high on top of the island with stunning 360 degree views out across the gulf, Allie went from room to room looking out at the sea views before returning to the living area where Bea was sat.

“This place is amazing…how many times have you been here?”

“Once with Deb when she about 15, she loved it, we did come in the summer though and I probably should have waited to bring you here, the beaches are fantastic in summer but we can still visit them, you just won't be able to spend all day on them.”

“I told you I really don't care what time of year it is…yes it would be nice to spend the day on the beach but it doesn't really matter.”

“So what do you want to do first?”

“I haven't thought that far ahead.”

To say that Bea loved it on Rotoroa Island was an understatement, it was a little piece of paradise and even during the summer months it never really got busy. The only problem was the ferry crossing, there was only one that left Auckland everyday. She knew Allie would love it there after all there were five beaches but taking her there during winter probably wasn't the best idea she'd ever had. The last time she was there with Debbie they had covered the whole island on foot in one day and then spent the next two days on the beach. She had been surprised that they were the only two on the beach for most of the time and as Debbie had spent most of her time in the sea Bea had just sat and watched her enjoying herself, feeling her heart beat and hearing the sea as it lapped against the sand relaxed her more and she had promised to return but up until she decided that she wanted to take Allie there she never had. The scenery was spectacular and even though she knew Allie really didn't much like walking she really wanted to share it with her, some of the walking tracks were pretty steep and she hoped she would think that the views were worth the effort.

Allie had disappeared into one of the bedrooms ten minutes earlier and Bea wondered what she was doing until she walked out, she'd got changed and  was wearing her new hiking boots.

“So are you going to be sitting there all day while I go exploring by myself?”

“No…I guess I thought…doesn't matter, just give me a couple of minutes.”

By the time Bea had gotten changed and had a fight with the laces in her boots Allie had packed the food away, made sandwiches for them to take out with them and was now sitting quite happily thumbing through the magazine she had taken with her while she waited for Bea. Looking up over the magazine she smiled,

“Now are you ready to go?”

“I guess, do you want to walk down to the visitors centre first, I could tell you the islands history but it'd be more fun to show you the amazing displays they have down there.”

Allie put down the magazine and simply nodded as she got up, picking up the bag she'd carefully packed their lunch in and handed it to Bea.

“I think it's only fair that you have this since you're making me walk.” She giggled.

Allie found the islands history fascinating and a little disconcerting when her mind wondered back to her past, Bea saw the change in her features the second she had started to read about how the island had once been owned by the Salvation Army and run as an addiction treatment centre, grabbing her hand she held it tightly as she gave her a small smile earning her a huge smile in return.

“I didn't need a place like this all I needed, will ever need is you.” Allie whispered before she continued to take in the history of the island.

Allie was always interested in the history of the places they visited and would ask countless questions given the chance but since the visitors centre was unstaffed she had to settle for reading and looking at everything that was there. She had been impressed to learn that the island had been almost entirely self sufficient with vegetable gardens, orchards and working farms. She had been hugely entertained when they got to a copy of The Evening Post dated October 1914 the article stated residents had been caught getting ‘hopelessly intoxicated after manufacturing a homemade wine of considerable strength.’ A detective had been employed to watch the residents movements and had uncovered that many of them had started to take a keen interest in gardening and especially the cultivation of parsnips.

After leaving the visitors centre they made their way up the ridge to the South tower and the impressive stone sculpture that was there, taking a little time to linger and take photographs as they looked out over the Hauraki Gulf. Making their way back in the direction of the visitors centre Bea suggested that they take a walk over to Ladies Bay to have their lunch. Sitting down on the grass they ate their lunch and looked out to sea, even in winter it was beautiful to be sat by a beach without another living soul in sight. A little later Bea stood up grabbing Allies hands and pulled her to her feet.

“Come on we'll freeze if we sit here for too long and I know the best way to warm us up.”

“So do I but I doubt we had the same thing in mind.” Allie laughed.

A hundred images flashed through Beas head and she doubted any of them would leave her mind for the rest of the day but she was determined to get Allie to tackle the steep track that led up to the North Tower and it's outstanding views out over the gulf. Allie was very far from impressed with the walk but the serenade that greeted them on the way up from the cicadas did lift her mood slightly and she was extremely entertained when she spotted the cheeky wekas darting in and out out of the bush. After spending a little time admiring the view they decided that it was time to make their way back to their accommodation for the night, it was getting a little more chilly and Bea was certain that it would rain at some point in the not too distant future. Not that it mattered as they walked back to the house Allie was already making plans for what they should do the next day before they had to leave, the ferry didn't arrive until 5:15pm and they had been informed when they arrived that as there were no bookings for the house they were staying in they didn't have to worry about the usual 11am check out time and she was sure that they wouldn't be spending the whole morning in bed although she wouldn't have minded doing that there were still plenty of things she wanted to see while they were there and getting to experience everything with Bea just made everything even better.

They arrived back at the house just as it started to rain, not that Allie even seemed to notice she was still excitedly talking about what she wanted to do the next day which included visiting the museum, cemetery, chapel, jail and schoolhouse leaving Bea in no doubt that they were going to be busy.

Allie suggested that they save time and shower together, not that it would ever save time no matter how well behaved Allie promised to be when they were alone things generally became overheated and it had nothing to do with the water temperature and everything to do with them not being able to keep their hands to themselves for long. After spending longer in the shower than either of them had intended they cooked dinner together before settling on the sofa for the rest of the evening after Allie had gone through the collection of DVD’s that she spotted earlier that day.

It had stopped raining a little while after it had begun and the sky had cleared not that either of them had noticed at the time. After settling on the sofa with Allies choice of movie the night started to descend bringing with it the threat of more rain. The blue sky was quickly being replaced by the rapidly falling night transforming their view from the windows into an ocean of blackness. Looking away from the tv once more a few minutes later Bea looked out into the moonless nigh seeing only the shimmering stars in the jet black sky, reminding her that even in the darkness there will always be at least a little light. Looking back at Allie she looked perfect in the glow of the light from the tv, as long as she was with her everything would feel like they were in paradise no matter where they were. She made her breath when she felt unable to, she'd unlocked doors inside of her that she had tried to keep firmly closed, she never left her mind since the first time they had met and all she could think was that heaven was real because heaven was Allie.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And since today is not looking great.....you might guess that's it's raining here, I would complain but since it means I don't have to water the garden I'm not going to, at least not today! I just hope that the forecast will improve and the temperatures do creep back up but as it's almost August I'm not hopeful.
> 
> So I've been thinking, I have this other story that I've been working on, I was wondering if you want me to finish this before I start posting it or should I start posting it now? I have to figure out a title for it before I can post it but I'm curious as to what you all think.


	129. Chapter 129

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty surprised I got this chapter finished already, I seem to have a lot going on in my head and none of it helpful, I guess writing helps take my mind off what's on it, shame it doesn't do the same thing for the emotions that seem to be coming along with it.

Beas eyes fluttered open, it was still dark but honestly she felt wide awake and just so alive, feeling Allies warm soft naked form wrapped around her own made her smile and her heart rate increase as she thought back to the previous night after Allie had dragged her to bed, not that it had taken much dragging or persuasion to get her there. Becoming increasing aware of the sound of the steady patter of rain against the window she sighed, this really wasn't the best time of year to be on Rotoroa and all she could hope for was that it would stop so Allie could see everything she wanted to see that day, she really didn't want her to be disappointed because the weather decided to conspire against them. Although if it did she could certainly think of a few ways to distract her from her disappointment and staying right where they were for most of the morning certainly wasn't in anyway an unpleasant thought. She laughed quietly to herself, ‘nope, definitely not an unpleasant way to spend the morning,’ she thought to herself before shaking her head slightly trying to dislodge the image that had just popped into her mind.

In the darkness she listened to the sounds of Allies gentle breathing and the rain as it continued to hit the window allowing them to bring a calmness to her mind like a soothing melody, a natural lullaby, not that she intended to go back back to sleep even when she did close her eyes again. She felt totally at peace and happy as if she was finally drifting on a calm sea and Allie was the wind in her sails, she was for the first time in her life completely at ease with the fluidity of time. Opening her eyes once more she returned to the moment and realized that the rain had stopped, the birds were beginning to wake filling the early morning with their sweet high notes. The sun had started to rise, filling the sky with mighty colours of red and orange and splashing the clouds with endless rays of pink, turning her head slightly towards the window it was a mesmerising sight that just invited her to stare out of the window deep into the horizon. Bea was so taken with gazing out of the window that she didn't even notice that Allie had woken up until she spoke.

“What's grabbed your attention?” She said softly before snuggling in closer if that was even possible.

“Just the sunrise.” Bea replied as she turned her attention back to Allie, “But I have something else right here even more beautiful to look at.”

“Oh yer, should I be jealous?” Allie giggled.

“Only if it's actually possible to be jealous of yourself.”

Laying in bed for a while longer neither of them were in a hurry to move until Allie decided to ask what time they were going out. Bea had said they could go out whenever Allie felt like it but since the museum didn't open until 10am she didn't see the point in rushing. Allie eventually had to untangle herself from Bea, as much as she hated to she desperately needed to use the bathroom and when she finally managed to drag herself out of bed she almost ran across the bedroom causing Bea to laugh at her.

It was still early when they had both got dressed and as Allie said she would make breakfast Bea stood looking out of the window out towards the coastline as it lay under the soft early morning light thinking that it almost looked like a freshly baked cookie that someone had already nibbled. Allie announcing that breakfast was ready made Bea smile, she wasn't going to say it but she wasn't just hungry she was starving.

Allie was keen to go out and she didn't want to wait any longer, if that meant walking a little more than she would like she decided that she was fine with that. Bea was just happy to do whatever Allie wanted to do, pulling on her boots she was surprised that she actually wanted to go out walking but she wouldn't say no to doing that and suggested that they walk down to home bay where the exhibition centre was and take the southern loop track, it was the most popular track for walkers on the island it was also the easiest. While Allie finished getting ready to go out Bea made them some lunch, Allie had most of the day planned out and Bea doubted she would want to go back to the house for lunch. While walking the southern loop they wondering off along some of the other tracks that broke away from it to take in the scenery, eventually taking a detour to men's bay. Walking along the beach hand in hand Bea was pleased that it didn't look like it was going to rain again and it did seem a little warmer than it had the day before. Stopping halfway along the beach Bea let go of Allies hand slipping her arm round her waist as they looked out to sea, the ocean was almost as still as a mill pond, a slumbering giant who's powers were untapped at that moment as it gently caressed the beach like a mother and her newborn baby. The sun perfectly illuminated the water, brilliant bright white light over turquoise was true beauty beyond any measure. Every moment they stood there was rich from the way the gentle breeze moved their loose hair to the way their feet sank into sand, everything felt unique, even the sky above them was like a new painting that changed from moment to moment.

Looping around back to the south tower where they had been the previous day they were in no rush as they headed to Ruthe Point Lookout.

“We should come back in the summer, bring Debbie with us.”

“You think?” Bea asked as she walked up behind Allie wrapping her arms round her waist and resting her chin on her shoulder, “I think she'd like that….you really are amazing you know that, you always want to include Deb.”

“And why wouldn't I?”

“I…I don't know, I guess most people wouldn't have even wanted to be with someone like me…I do still come with more baggage than most people would want to deal with.”

“Good thing I'm not most people then isn't it? Where is this coming from anyway? You know exactly how I feel about you…most people would never have done for me what you did, you're the amazing one.”

“Ok, ok I guess we're both pretty amazing then.”

“I'll settle for that, and you also have a pretty amazing daughter.”

Bea frowned, “We have an amazing daughter, and never let Deb hear you say that, you remember what she said don't you?”

“I do, it's just…sometimes I forget, I remember when I was convinced that she was going to kick me out of the house and tell me to stay away from you when she found out about…you know. I'll try and think next time…..guess we should get going I have so much more I want to see before we leave.”

“Yer I guess….you know for someone who hates walking you've dragged me around a lot this morning already.”

They took a leisurely walk back to home bay and went to the museum first, Bea was surprised that Allie could take so long just looking at the artefacts that were contained in the museum that fully demonstrated the fascinating history of the island. Everything from the islands Maori and European history right through to the islands days as an addiction treatment centre was on display and Allie was truly enthralled by everything she saw. Bea had seen most of it before but still took an interest, anything that held Allies interest would always hold hers also, or maybe it was just watching Allie that held her interest. Allie wanted to go straight to the chapel until Bea pointed out that it was lunchtime and they sat outside the museum to eat their lunch before Allie insisted that that they only had a few hours left and they had to move. All the old buildings had been beautifully and lovingly restored, as they neared the chapel Allie wondered why they were so many steps and she asked Bea if she knew.

“There are 48 steps, each one as I understand it represents a step in the process of recovery.”

“Funny, think I only ever needed one step and that was meeting you.”

After spending a few minutes in the chapel they moved onto the jail.

“Why did they even need a jail?”

“It's where they put the drunks to dry out when they were first brought here.”

“How do you know all this stuff anyway? You been sneaking a look in a history book?”

“No.” Bea laughed, “Every year after Debbie went back to school after we'd been over here she always had to write an essay about something that she'd done over the holidays, the year we came here that was what she wrote about, if I remember rightly she wrote a whole history of the island, think she still has it actually we can ask her next time she's home if you'd like.”

“Might be an interesting read.”

Moving on from there they walked over to the old school house that had been built in the 1860s, it had also been used as a tea house while it was part of the treatment centre. The last place they had to visit was the cemetery, the views from there of Coromandel, Ponui Island and the gulf were amazing and Allie was completely in her element taking pictures. The walk back to the house was slow and steady, they needed to pack, not that it would take a long time to do that. And Bea wanted to make sure that they didn't leave leave any of their rubbish behind.

“Did we miss anything, there's nothing else to see is there?”

“Not that I'm complaining but since when did you start enjoying walking?”

“Well I'm not sure if I'd actually say I enjoy it but I am getting used to it but don't get any ideas about making it a regular thing or I may change my mind about us buying the bar together.”

“Fine, for the rest of the time we're visiting dad no more walking, we did miss out the mast from the Tiri ll, it was a pirate radio ship that used to broadcast from out in the gulf, but I don't think that's very interesting really.”

At 4:45pm there was a knock on the door, right on time Phil arrived to pick them up and take them down to the wharf to wait for the ferry to arrive. As soon as they boarded the ferry Bea called her dad letting him know that they had just left and would see him at the pier at 6:30pm. Michael had already made reservations to take them to dinner after an earlier rather interesting telephone conversation with Debbie, he had been surprised a little when Debbie had told him about their plans but it made sense to him given recent events. When he'd told Debbie they hadn't mentioned anything to him yet he promised her he wouldn't mention what she'd told him, after all they had only spent one night with him.

“Dad are you going to tell me where exactly we're going?” Bea asked as she looked out of the car window realizing that they were headed in the opposite direction of her dads house.

“It's a surprise.”

Bea looked at Allie wondering if she had had something to do with it soon finding out judging by the look an Allies face that she was just as in the dark as she was. The drive over to Herne Bay only took a little over 10 minutes and as soon as Michael parked the car Bea knew exactly what he had planned and where they were going. Following him into the bar of the Jervois Steak House Bea had to wonder why he had chosen that particular restaurant, it was pretty pricy and the only time they ever ate there was if there was something to celebrate and Bea herself had only ever been there once when her dad had convinced her that her and Debbie should fly over when Debbie turned 16. Pulling Allie to one side so they were out of earshot she asked Allie he'd said anything to her that could warrant being where they currently found themselves.

“I haven't even been alone with your dad since we arrived…but you on the other hand…” She grinned as as she recalled the previous two days.

“It's just strange.”

Michael wondered back over to them passing them both a drink .

“Dad what's going on? I mean why are we here?”

“For dinner, can't I treat two of my favourite girls to dinner?”

“You can but dad it's so expensive here.”

Bea knew there was no point in arguing with him really, once he had made his mind up about something he wouldn't budge, Allie had noticed that while he was staying with them laughing when she told Bea she knew why she could be so stubborn, of course Bea had not seen why that was so funny and refused to ever accept that she was at times just like her dad. They were soon escorted to their table on the first floor and seated near the fire. Allie had gazed around her at their surroundings, everywhere she looked it was bare brick and black paint with the most delicate chandeliers sparkling overhead, just looking around she could tell that a meal here definitely wasn't going to be cheap.

“Remember when we came here for Debs 16th birthday Bea?” She just nodded as he continued. “It's a pity you weren't around then Allie, there were 12 of us, we were on the ground floor that night we took up the entire ground floor dining area that's right next to the kitchen. Bea here wasn't happy about being sat so close to the kitchen, not that she was ever very happy about anything back then, but if I remember correctly her and Andrew chatted to one of the chefs and got some tips on cooking the perfect steak…that was a fantastic night.”

“I think you'll find it was Andy who was talking to chef dad, I wasn't into the whole talking thing back then.”

Reaching over the table he patted her gently on the back of the hand, “You'll have to forgive your old man, getting a little forgetful in my old age.” He chuckled.

“You're not old dad, forgetful maybe but aren't we all sometimes?”

Looking at the menu Allie was surprised, each steak that they had had full descriptions of the cut, feed, breed and weight. Some were on the bone the rest were off and they all came with various sauce combinations. She couldn't decide what to have so eventually just settled on letting Bea decide, especially when Michael reminded Bea not to forget their side orders, if steak was all you ordered there steak was all you got, as Michael said, “The steaks ride alone.”

While they waited for their meals to arrive Bea whispered to Allie wondering if they should tell him about the bar and Allie agreed that they should.

“Since you brought us here for whatever reason we have something to tell you. I haven't been happy since I went back to work and I've been trying to find something else that interests me then an opportunity came up for Allie to buy the bar where she works, she was talking herself out of it a little more everyday when it hit me so…we're buying it together.”

Michael did his best to look surprised, “That's fantastic news…how did Franky take it?”

“You have to ask? She wasn't overjoyed in the beginning but she solved the problem quite well, although I'm not sure how much longer I'll be working with her and she might have to struggle or find someone else to work with her.”

“Hmmm, well I expect an invite to the party.”

Bea laughed, she hadn't thought that far ahead yet but it did sound like a good idea, it was something they were going to have to think about and would take a little planning but if Allie had anything to do with it if they decided to celebrate it would be a pretty good party. Michael got the attention of their waiter and ordered a bottle of wine, when Bea heard him order a bottle of Tatachilla Cabernet Sauvignon she tried to say something and he had just simply told her that they were celebrating and he intended to treat them both even though he wasn't drinking since he had to drive.

When their food arrived they carried on chatting about the bar, Michael was interested in everything they both had to say and when Bea had admitted that she was a little worried about learning everything Michael had reassured her that he knew she always learnt things quickly and that she shouldn't worry, especially as she wasn't doing it alone and he knew Allie knew how everything worked although he planned on trying to speak to Allie while they were there, if he could prise them apart for more than five minutes. He knew Allie wouldn't let her struggle but he also knew that Allie might not be aware of just how stubborn Bea really could be and he wanted to warn her what to expect if she started struggling, he'd seen it all before when her and Franky first started working together and one day it had almost come to blows, he'd been glad that he picked that week to visit, something that he didn't get much chance to do back then. He'd made his mind up while he was staying with them that he was going to make more of an effort to visit, he missed Bea and Debbie and only ever really seeing them both once a year just wasn't enough.

Their meal was exceptional, all three of them had ordered the same thing, the Wakanui grass fed rump steak, they were cooked to perfection and the taste was out of this world, and along with the red wine jus that came with the steak they all ordered a different sauce, Michael had the mushroom sauce, Allie had wanted to try the jalapeño hollandaise and Bea had ordered the spinach and Gorgonzola. Allie even said that the next time they were there they definitely had to eat there again never mind the cost for steak like that it was worth it. Michael had said that steak was what they did and they always did it perfectly, everything revolved around the steak, the sides were just an added bonus and there were plenty of options. Allie had enjoyed the steak fries but they all agreed that the onion rings were the best any of them had ever tasted, they were perfectly golden and most surprisingly not greasy. Bea had raved about the roasted beetroot that was tossed with candied walnuts, goats cheese and had a slight hint of truffle, and generally she did not like goats cheese but she had said that she could have eaten that all night and never complained. As they sat and finished their wine Allie had commented that you would never find a steak restaurant like that in Melbourne, the ambiance was perfect, it wasn't too formal but it was classy at the same time and Bea had agreed with her.

Bea had tried her hardest when Michael took the bill from their waiter to convince him to let her pay half, he had just simply said that it was his treat and he was paying and Bea had to give up in the end his argument had been that $290 was not a great deal to pay when it was a celebration.

Arriving back at the house Bea had made coffee and they had sat in the kitchen for a while chatting some more until Bea had said that she needed a shower, she had expected Allie to follow her and thought it was a little strange when Allie said she wanted another coffee but would be over as soon as she'd finished, as soon as Bea disappeared Michael waited for five minutes to make sure she wasn't going to come back.

“I know you know that Beas a lot like me when it comes to being stubborn but you will keep an eye on her won't you? You know what she's like when she's stressed or struggling with something and you can probably handle her better than anyone I know when she gets like that, well I'm pretty sure you know her better than anyone ever has but if you find that you need me when you've bought the bar, you know just to help you keep her on an even keel you just call me.”

“I'm sure everything will be fine but thank you, if I need you I will. Will isn't leaving straight away and he's going to work with her as much as he can before he does. It can be a lot to take in but I'm not expecting her to spend much time behind the bar, not sure she'd handle a busy Friday or Saturday night.”

“Are you planning any changes?”

“Honestly we haven't spoken about it but I don't think we will, the place was just renovated and the restaurant is new, I guess it wouldn't hurt to think of a few ideas to make the place feel more like it's ours. I wasn't even going to buy it, we discussed it and Bea said I should but I know the hours Will works and I couldn't do that, I guess we still have a lot to think about before we finally take over, maybe while we're still here we could talk about it, pick your brain so to speak.”

“Sounds good to me, if there's anyway I can help you both out all you have to do is ask and I think I've kept you here long enough, you better get going before she comes looking for you.”

Finishing her coffee Allie said goodnight to Michael before going back to the guest house finding Bea already in bed reading.

“You took your time, don't tell me dad kept you talking.”

“He worries about you.” Allie said as she sat on the bed next to her, “I'm sure he's allowed to do that he is your dad, and he said that if we need him for anything he's just a call away.”

“I know he does, he always has, I just never used to listen to him, he tried to convince me so many times before to move back here when….well, you know…now I have two of you that I have to listen to.”

“Yes you do and don't you ever forget it.” Getting back up from the bed Allie started to get undressed, “I'm going to have a shower and when I get back I don't expect to see that book in your hands, I can think of much better things you can do with them.” She winked at her before heading into the bathroom.

Putting her book down she smiled to herself, Allie really did get on well with her dad and she was pleased about that, she had always hated the way she knew her parents had treated her, she'd never done anything to deserve that and neither had Alex. Turning off the lamp she lay down allowing herself to sink comfortably against the mattress while she waited for Allie. Not too long later Allie slipped into bed beside her pulling her close.

“So tell me,” Bea said quietly, “What exactly do you want me to do with my hands?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how fast I'll get the next chapter written, I'm aiming for the end of the week. But since I now have two story's to keep up with....luckily I have a few already written for the second one, so just to spoil you all I'll post another chapter of that to!


	130. Chapter 130

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a little longer to write than I wanted it to, but after yesterday's almost disaster I'm surprised I got it finished at all.
> 
> And you know what I have just realized? Beas had one birthday, Allies is coming up and I've never given a thought to Debbie's birthday! Guess she's going to have to stay 18 forever!!!

The next couple of days they spent hanging round the house with Michael, the weather had been pretty awful and neither of them wanted to venture out in it. Allie had talked, very animatedly at times, with Michael about the bar and Bea couldn't recall seeing her so excited about it. An hour earlier she had sat and listened and watched as they were running ideas past each other, Allie at the time looked to Bea as if she were being dangled on invisible strings but her puppeteer was drunk and she had the same expression a young child would wear when they found a very large Christmas present waiting for them. It wasn't that Bea wasn't just as excited about them buying the bar but all Allie and her dads talk of all their ideas about trivia nights, bar olympics and something they called ‘battle of the bartenders’ were lost on her.

Allie had asked her if she was even listening and she was but she didn't see why they would need to pull in even more people, the bar was busy enough every night and weekends were crazy. Something told her that one day she might end up regretting her decision although it was only a fleeting thought, she had no intention of being front and centre of any of their wild and crazy ideas and she did think that their ugly Christmas sweater party idea was pretty funny, not she would ever be caught dead wearing one. Asking her if she had any ideas earlier had left her racking her brain but she did eventually come up with something that she was pretty pleased with, and Allie agreeing that an open mic comedy night would actually be fun.

Bea was thankful the next morning that the weather looked good, she'd booked them on the harbour tour for that afternoon and if it was raining it just wouldn't be the same. Allie had frowned a lot over breakfast when Bea had told her they were going out after lunch because she had been certain that anything Bea had planned would probably include a lot of walking and it wasn't helping that Bea wouldn't tell her where they were going.

Arriving at pier 2 a few hours later Allies mood greatly improved when she realized that the only walking she would really be doing was to get on a boat.

“What did you really think I was going to have you doing walking the Rangitoto Summit Track?” She laughed as they boarded the boat.

“Honestly I figured we'd be walking someplace.”

“Strange how you didn't mind walking a few days ago.”

“That was completely different babe, I had an incentive, I had things I wanted to see.”

“Maybe I can think of a better incentive to get you to walk with me again.”

They both knew that getting away even for Christmas might be problematic and Bea wanted to run an idea by her dad and catch up with her brother before they had to leave she'd meant to call Andrew the day before but all that talk of the bar had put the idea completely out of her mind. Right now though she intended to just enjoy their hour and a half on the water taking in the sights around Waitemata Harbour. Bea wanted Allie to see downtown Auckland from the harbour, it was a stunning sight and she'd never tire of it herself no matter how many times she saw it.

As they passed North Head Bea noticed Allie paying a great deal of attention to the commentary, looking at her it never ceased to amaze her how interested she was in everything.

“Maybe I wouldn't mind going there.”

“Huh?” Bea really knew she needed to pay more attention sometimes to things that were being said to her, but most of the time concentrating on anything other than the amazing woman standing just slightly in front of her was difficult and today was proving to be one of those days.

“North Head, I think I'd like to go there.”

“We can go wherever you like, although I'm certain we don't have time today and it does involve walking you'd love the history though.”

“I wasn't thinking about today or even on this trip, next time we're here maybe, but how is it you bring me on things like this then I find out for myself that there are so many places I want to visit?”

“Guess I forget, I'll do my homework next time shall I? I do take it all for granted.”

“Yer, you've seen everything before, doesn't matter we don't have to go.”

“I may have seen most places here before but I've never been to them with you, so I really don't mind you know everything is different when I'm with you. Make a list of all the places you want to visit and we'll do it together when we get the chance.”

Allie had already been way ahead of her, she'd had her phone in her hand the whole time and had been quite busy adding places she wanted to go to with her into her notes and that list was steadily growing it would probably take a few visits or an exceptionally long visit to actually see everything.

———————————————

They had spent most of Sunday morning in bed, they didn't even bother getting up for breakfast, after taking an extremely long shower together they were now cuddled up on the sofa while Michael was finishing off cooking lunch. They were expecting Andrew, Jessica and the boys to arrive any minute, they hadn't seen them once all week and Bea had only managed one rather short telephone conversation with Andrew because as he put it, ‘work was mental’ and he just didn't have enough hours in the day to do anything else. When the door flew open and Jack and Josh ran straight into the living room shattering their peace with their happy chatter Bea knew within seconds of seeing them how this was going to end, moments later both boys threw themselves on top of them excited to see them both again.

“Boys that's not how we agreed you were going to behave.” Andrew voice sounded from the other side of the door.

“Andy it's fine.” Bea managed to say through her laughter when Jack decided that he was going to tickle her.

Josh had calmed down considerably when Allie had pulled him properly into her lap and wrapped him up in a hug. As old as he was he wasn't going to turn down a hug from either of them, Michael calling out to them all from the kitchen that lunch was almost ready soon grabbed his attention and he wriggled free from Allies arms and hurried to the kitchen quickly followed by Jack just as Andrew and Jessica appeared in the living room.

“Sorry we haven't had any time to spend with you sis, works just so chaotic, we thought we might make it over yesterday but there was a problem at the restaurant and Jess had to spend most of the day there leaving me in charge of the two monsters.”

“Don't worry about it, bet dad told you our news?”

“Can't say he has…wait am I gonna need to sit down for this? Come on tell me.” Looking over at Jessica he smiled, “Told ya, think there's a wedding in the air.”

Bea and Allie just looked at each other giggling, “Why do people keep jumping to that conclusion?” Bea asked to no one in particular.

Sitting down to lunch together both boys were excitedly telling Bea and Allie about the school rugby team they had both been picked to play for while Andrew waited to find out what the news could possibly be watching his sister intently, he couldn't believe that there was no way it wasn't going to involve them getting married, it was obvious to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear how much they loved each other and after what they had gone through not so long ago he knew they had to have a stronger bond than most couples, something he never thought he'd ever see his sister have with anyone.

Once the boys had finished telling them about the last match that they had played they both went quiet and turned all of their attention back to their food giving Andrew the opportunity to ask again about their news. After telling him, or rather Allie did, he was happy for them, Bea had her mind on something else and wasn't paying a great deal of attention to anyone else sitting at the table. ‘First Deb now Andy,’ she thought to herself, her thoughts drifting to what it would be like to be married again and as much as it was a frightening prospect Allie was nothing like Harry, never given her any reason to think that she could ever be like him. Allie did all the little things that to most people would seem insignificant but to Bea they meant the world and she never wanted things to change between them and Harry had gone from bad to worse after they were married. She had so much to think about though, they had to get through the whole process of actually buying the bar first and she had to get to grips with how everything worked. But maybe, sometime in the not too distant to future, the conclusion that everyone else seemed to so easily land on every time they said they had news may become a reality if Bea could actually find the courage to actually do it. It wasn't even something they had ever spoken about though and even if she did ask maybe it wasn't something Allie would ever want.

“Bea….babe.” Allie hated it when she knew she was lost in her own head, she was getting better at telling her when something was bothering her but it still did happen and always worried Allie. Allie brushing the hair from her face Bea snapped back to reality looking at Allie and smiling.

“Sorry, wondered off again didn't I?”

“You did, but you're back now. Who's asking then?”

They had discussed what they were going to do for Christmas this year the night before while they were laying in bed and both of them came to the conclusion that there was probably no chance of them both being able to leave Melbourne, Allie had said that she would be happy to stay behind and let Bea and Debbie go to New Zealand without her but Bea would hear none of it saying that if they didn't go together then they didn't go at all and she wouldn't budge from that decision. They had both eventually agreed that they would ask her dad and brother if they would like to visit them for the holidays, it would be quieter since none of her other extended family would be around but Bea said she didn't have a problem with that, Christmas Day was always fun but her birthday was always too noisy for her and being able to have a quiet day just for once she had said would be heaven.

“Allie and I…well once we own the bar aren't expecting to be able to come over for Christmas so we'd like to ask you all to come and stay with us, it'll be a squeeze I know but you haven't spent Christmas in Australia in forever.”

Andrew, Jessica and Michael all said they'd love to without any hesitation, it was a few months away so they all knew that they had plenty of time to arrange things. After lunch Bea and Allie insisted on doing the dishes, everyone of Michaels protests fell on deaf ears as Bea ushered her dad out of the kitchen telling him that he had cooked and it was only fair that they did something. If the pair had know what was being discussed in hushed tones in the living room they may have thought better about insisting on being the ones to do the dishes.

“I'm so pleased they all said they'd spend Christmas with us, maybe Alex could join us for lunch, remind me to call him when we get home.”

“You know it's going to be exhausting don't you?”

“It's only Christmas once a year babe and I'd hate for you to not have your family there at Christmas.”

“They're our family, they all love you and you know it.”

“Must be my natural charm.” Allie giggled.

Bea rolled her eyes lifting one hand out of the soapy water she flicking bubbles at Allie, “You're so full of yourself sometimes.”

“And you love it.”

“I love you there's no denying that.”

Michael, Andrew and Jessica had all agreed that they were going to look into renting a large house for their two week stay, not that Bea was expecting them to stay for too long, their house was comfortable enough but with so many extra people staying there it would be a squeeze and she had an idea that Franky might put some of them up. Andrew found the perfect place to rent while scrolling through a site he found, quickly showing it to his dad and Jessica they all agreed and he'd just finished the booking when Bea and Allie returned from the kitchen. They spent another hour sitting around before Bea said that they had better make sure that they had everything packed, their flight was at 1830 and even though both of them would have liked to have stayed longer it just wasn't possible, they had a lot to sort out when they got home.

———————————————

Landing at Melbourne Airport just after 2030 they were both tired and they both were pretty sure that as soon as they got home they would dump their suitcases and head straight to bed. Allie had to work the next morning, it was one of Beas days off but she had already told Allie that she was going to spend the whole day at the bar and no amount of persuasion Allie had tried had convinced her that she should at least spend half her day off at home. The last hour of the flight Bea had been sulking even after Allie had told her that she just wanted her to have some time to herself to do as she pleased. She stopped sulking when Allie had reminded her that her bike was still in pieces on the garage floor eventually coming to the agreement that Bea would spend her half day off on Wednesday at home. Liz was already waiting for them and after hugging them both she drove them home telling Bea she would see her on Tuesday.

Dumping their suitcases as soon as they walked into the house Allie went straight upstairs, Bea walked into the kitchen just to get them both a bottle of water, there was something so great about getting home but it hadn't always felt like that. Now though there was nothing to worry about walking into the house exactly how they had left it was not only welcoming but also comforting. Right now though she knew that they both needed sleep, their warm comfortable bed snuggled up beside each other their heads full of only the best dreams, of each other and their future. Allie was already in bed by the time Bea got there her eyes almost closed,

“Thought you'd changed your mind about coming to bed.”

“Not a chance, I'd miss you.”

A couple of minutes later Bea slipped into bed, pulling Allie in close as she closed her eyes. Ten minutes later Bea was still awake, she could feel the tiredness inside of her like a worm, slowly and deliberately draining what little energy she still had left in her body. Tomorrow she decided she was going to try and spend as much time with Will as she could, she'd rather spend the day with Allie but that was a distraction she couldn't really afford and she wanted to get this right, didn't want to let Allie down and disappoint her in anyway, not that she ever could, Allie had told her she didn't care if she spent her days sitting in the office just knowing that she was there where nothing or no one would ever be able to hurt her again was really all Allie cared about, Bea finally fell asleep about half an hour later.

They were both running around the house the next morning, neither of them had remembered to set the alarm the night before and even though they both still had plenty of time to get to the bar it was something that neither of them were used to, the morning alarm was a constant reminder that they had things to do and when it didn't wake them up they would usually laze in bed for an hour or two, if not the whole morning. If Allie hadn’t have realized that she had to get to work about ten minutes after they woke up they would probably have been laying there long after Allies shift started.

“My car or yours?” Allie questioned giving her her best puppy dog eyes. She loved her car almost as much as Bea loved her bike.

“Oh I don't know that's a tough one let me think.” Bea laughed.

Even though Allie knew she was only teasing her she couldn't help the frown that appeared.

“I'm just kidding, yours…I don't mind being second best to a bloody car.”

“Babe, you are not now nor could you ever be second best to anything…even my car.” Allie giggled as she pulled on her jacket and picked up her bag, “Shall we?”

“I guess we better, wouldn't look good if the prospective new bosses turned up late.”

Will was sitting in the office looking stressed when they arrived, one of his suppliers had let him down and he was sure they were going to have to change the whole menu by the end of the day, he knew Allie was aware of his supplier related issues and in his mind the issue couldn't have come up again at a worse time and it worried him that Bea may see the whole business as more trouble than it was worth and decide that they shouldn't buy the bar.

After shedding her jacket and putting her bag away Allie had kissed Bea saying that she'd see her around and left the office to start her day as she always did. Will reluctantly told Bea what his problem was and she'd been silent for a few minutes, Will took that as a bad sign and went back to staring at the computer screen not certain if he could find a reliable supplier at such short notice.

“Let me make a quick call.” Bea finally said as she grabbed her phone from her pocket startling Will for a moment.

Placing a call to the owner of her favourite Italian restaurant she soon had a smile on her face as she picked up a pen and scribbled down the name and phone number of a supplier he used before ending the call.

“Problem solved!” She grinned, “Give them a call and ask for Robert, I'm told they are the most reliable sea food supplier you could ever find.”

“You really are something else you know that Bea, I've been worried that you'd think this place wasn't worth the hassle.”

“All problems can be fixed, some are just easier to fix than others.”

“Then maybe you should take care of this problem, get a head start on learning how to deal with the suppliers for the restaurant, I have a feeling you'll be the one sitting in here and dealing with all that sort of thing anyway, not that Allie doesn't know what she's doing but she hates the paperwork.”

“Don't I know it, can't tell you how many times she's come home in a bad mood because of it. So you have a list of what you need? Can't do this without one?”

Will chuckled as he handed over the list of seafood that they desperately needed for the restaurant before walking out of the office and leaving her to it. Bea spent half her day on the phone sometimes and wasn't bothered by speaking to random strangers most of the time but this was different, things actually depended on her getting this right. Forty five minutes later she reappeared from the office with a huge smile on her face, while she was chatting on the phone she'd seen the paperwork from the original supplier and she wasn't happy with what they were charging.

“You look pleased with yourself babe, what have you done?” Allie asked just as she was serving one of the regulars.

Bea took a seat at the bar next to Will, the supplier was more than happy to be getting a regular order from them and had done them a much better deal than they had with their previous supplier. Will was amazed, he'd had plenty of contact with different suppliers and when he first started he'd never been able to get a great deal.

“Told her already she's a natural.” Will grinned.

Bea spent most of the day tucked away in the office with Will learning the different ordering systems he had in place for the bar and the restaurant and surprisingly to her she found it to be quite easy to get her head around it all. He ran her through the suppliers that they used before asking her if she thought she might be able to find some different suppliers before he left and save him a little cash. They had laughed so hard about that even Allie and Shane had wondered what was going on. Taking her around the restaurant she met all the staff that were working at the time and was impressed by the head chef who said he was happy to incorporate any changes they wanted to make to the menus, Bea wasn't sure that she was ready to have anything to do with that and had told him that until they finally took over everything was still in Wills hands and that she should probably leave things like that to Allie anyway, although she did expect Franky would stick her nose in at some point or other since she was a whizz in the kitchen and had even created some of her own dishes in the past but that was before they had got so busy that everything revolved round the office and the cases they attracted.

Returning to the bar she sat down thinking about all the ideas that Allie and her dad had had and found herself wondering why Will had never done anything like that, deciding that she would ask him when he wasn't busy and that wasn't going to be until the next time she could be at the bar.

It had been a long day for both of them but Bea was happy that she found most of what Will had shown her easy and Allie had joked on their way home that Bea probably already knew the paperwork better than she did. She hated it and if Bea really wanted to take that off her hands she wasn't going to complain. Just the thought of having her around all the time and knowing that she could see her whenever she wanted to throughout the day excited Allie more than anything else, it would be so much better than only being able to share a few texts or the odd phone call during the day. She knew they could make it work even if they did get on each other's nerves sometimes, she'd read an article why they were away about the pros and cons of working with your significant other and she'd found that, to her delight, the article listed more pros than cons. Not that she would ever find herself for more than a few minutes dwelling on anything she'd read, they were a team anyway, faced everything together and owning the bar would be no different to how well they worked as a couple that she was sure of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aiming for at least another chapter next week, although if I finish sooner I will update sooner.


	131. Chapter 131

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for how long it has taken me to write this chapter, I started it with great ideas then walked away and forgot everything I was planning to write...must remember to write notes next time! There may be a surprise at the end of this chapter though.

Bea spent the next couple of weeks at the bar on her full days off and her half days she spent at home, Allie had tried getting her to take more time for herself and that had caused one or two small arguments. Bea hated having nothing to do and didn't much like just sitting around at home by herself so after she'd finished putting her bike together she hadn't really wanted to spend her half days at home but she eventually backed down when Allie suggested that she should make use of the bike again.

Bea had spent most of her time at the bar shadowing Will and she was sure that she knew pretty much everything she needed to know, she'd even got to grips with the ins and outs of the restaurant and spent a good few hours with the head chef discussing seasonal menu changes and the odd special that he had thought about. Everything seemed to be coming together better than she had ever expected.

When she had turned her attention to the bar things hadn't gone quite according to plan, Allie made pulling a pint look like the easiest thing in the world and Bea had been determined to learn how to do it even if it killed her unfortunately asking Allie to show her how it was done probably hadn't been the best idea she'd had and in hindsight she should have gone straight to Shane for that part of her training.

Allie had shown her countless times and was getting frustrated especially when one attempt had ended up in them both wearing more beer than ever saw the inside of the glass. Allie had eventually given up and Shane had stepped in not worried about wearing a few glasses of beer, he could see that Bea really wanted to learn how to do it and after all she was going to be one of his bosses. After thirty minutes she'd eventually mastered it, Allie appeared from the office still not in the best of moods only to be greeted by Bea quite happily serving a couple of the regulars, pulling their pints and chatting to them as if she'd always worked there. Allie watched on in disbelief, she had been sure that Bea, if she ever served behind the bar would have to stick to serving bottles.

“Guess you aren't that good at teaching her everything.” Shane chuckled as he appeared behind her.

“I guess you might be right…but how?”

“Come off it Allie, we all know that she can't keep her eyes off you, like ever! You were just too much of a distraction.”

“Hmmm, I guess.”

When Bea turned around and saw Allie standing next to Shane she couldn't help but smirk a little, Allie was just about to say something when Will walked into the bar a huge smile on his face.

“Better late than never ladies.” Will chuckled as he looked between Bea and Allie and then at Shane, “who started the beer fight while I was away?”

Allie burst out laughing when she thought back to how frustrated she'd gotten with Bea finally seeing the funny side because Shane was right, they were as bad as each other when it came to keeping their eyes to themselves.

“Turns out I'm not great at teaching Bea everything, especially when it comes to pulling pints.”

“Oh right…got the contract finally, you need to read it through and get your solicitor to check through it but I'll think you'll find it's all in order, everything we've talked about should be correct.”

Handing it over to Bea before he disappeared into the restaurant, he'd spent years building the bar up, when he first bought it it was almost a wreck and only attracted the most die hard regulars who had been drinking there for years. The first time he started to renovate it he'd done most of the work himself, staying up most of the night so that he didn't have to close up during the day. As he looked around the restaurant he knew he was going to miss the place, he also knew that it would be left in good hands with Bea and Allie he wasn't going to have to worry about them changing everything he'd worked so hard to build and the staff would all keep their jobs. Wandering back into the bar he watched as both Bea and Allie were serving customers and part of him wished that he could have convinced Rose to stay, he hadn't really told anyone that the decision to leave hadn't really been as joint of a decision as it seemed. He'd made plenty of good friends over the years and even though he'd never really known Bea that well since the first day he'd seen her and Allie together he'd made a point of trying to get to know her better and he had to admit that he was glad that he had.

Bea looked over to where he was standing and whispered to Allie that she was going to have a word with him.

“You're going to miss this aren't you?”

“I am…but you know there's a beaten up old bar over in Mossman that I've got my eye on, Rose knows I'll never settle into just any old job, her dad drinks in there so I have it on very good authority that the owner is planning on retiring soon, he's already put in a good word for me as his soon to be son in law.”

Bea smiled at him, Will could see the good in everything and everyone around him, he'd taken a big gamble when he first bought the bar and it had paid off, he'd built up a very successful business, surrounded himself with people who only needed a second chance and someone to believe in them, he'd taken his biggest chance on Shane and he'd grabbed onto what Will had offered him with both hands worked hard and Bea knew that he was the best employee they were going to have when they finally took over. The future was starting to look really great and she knew that she had Allie to thank for that.

By the end of the week they had signed the contract, for a few minutes it had all seemed unreal until Bea realised that she was going to have to speak to Franky again, she wouldn't be in the office again until Tuesday so decided that she should call her and ask her to go over to for lunch on Sunday, inviting David as well seemed like a good idea and Allie had agreed.

———————————————

Sitting around the dining table Franky knew that they were going to get the news that she had dreaded, it had been hard only having Bea in the office part time and Franky missed her but she tried to keep the conversation light while they ate. Although she'd always known that one day Bea may have wanted to do something else she'd always held on to the hope she would be in until they both felt it was time to throw in the towel. Finishing up their meal Allie had tried unsuccessfully to excuse herself from the conversation that was going to be taking place in the living room, suddenly feeling like it was because of her that Bea was giving up on something that she had invested so much of herself in. Clearing the table she was about to do the dishes when Bea walked into the kitchen asking her to leave them until later because there was no way she could get through talking to Franky by herself, not this time.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Franky's eyes rarely leaving her coffee cup that sat in front of her on the coffee table Bea sat watching Franky as if daring her to speak first and break the silence that hung there, a silence that taunted her to open her mouth before she'd even assembled the words in her head. Long minutes ticked away until Bea finally looked at Allie and somehow everything became clearer and she told Franky and David what they were already expecting. In four weeks Bea would be out of the office for good and as much as it pained her to finally end that chapter it was time for her to move on and start afresh.

Franky only half listened, she knew it was coming but half hoped that Bea would change her mind, decide that going to work everyday knowing what to expect would make her rethink her decision but there it was, four weeks and Bea was done. Franky never expected her words to hurt so much and it felt like she had just been stabbed through the heart with a thousand knives. Feeling the hot tears welling up in her eyes she threw her head back not able to look at anyone for a few moments before composing herself enough to finally look at Bea. Looking at her she could see the regret in her eyes but her words were the truth, Bea had to go, after everything that they had tackled together she had no alternative, and as much as Franky wanted to argue and fight with her she couldn't because events had taken a greater toll on Bea than even Franky had first realised and you can't fight the truth no matter how much you want to. None of it was what she wanted to hear but as her eyes dropped to Bea and Allies joined hands it hit her, she deserved this, the opportunity to never have to worry if she would be going home at the end of the day because Bea was different, she wasn't as broken as she was not even the threat of death could change that, Allie had made her stronger and Franky knew that if their roles were reversed and she was the one doing this Bea would have supported her decision.

“Franky…I…”

“Na Red you don't have to be sorry, I know that's what ya gonna say so don't, I'd be doing the same if something had almost taken me away from Gidge. It hurts but it'll heal, stings a little but it's the truth and that's a valuable thing that we've always had.”

“Have you thought about what you're going to do?”

“I'll worry about that tomorrow, gonna miss ya but I know you need this who knows could have been me saying this to ya if things had been different….besides can't think of a better way to get a few free drinks.”

“Hmmm, as long as you don't drag Booms along with you I reckon we can run to that.”

Bea was always honest almost to a fault, when Franky thought about her it was the first things that would pop into her head, being honest can be hard but always worth it because it left no misunderstandings in its wake.

David stayed quiet, just listening when there was so much he could say and by the expression on his face there was a lot going on in his head, right then a little more than any of them knew. He'd not said anything, not wanted to but through one of his tutors he'd met someone who would be a perfect fit to work with Franky in the short term, the guy had only qualified two years ago but at the top of his class and he reminded him a lot of Bea, methodical and no nonsense. He'd wanted to mention him to Franky but didn't want either of them to feel like has intruding or trying to push Bea out before she was ready to go. He admired Bea, he'd watched her work seen her speak to a new client, the way she could put anyone at ease as soon as she sat down with them for the first time, they hung on her every word because she knew exactly what to say and all he hoped was that he could be as good as she was someday. He'd known her a long time and he respected her, she was unfailingly kind and un judgmental, she always put others first and herself last, no matter how busy or tired she was she was rarely short with anyone, all except Franky who could wind her up in a nanosecond.

David had to excuse himself mumbling something about not wanting to be late picking someone up leaving them all wondering who the someone was and naturally Franky had a theory a that just somehow didn't actually seem that far out of the realms of all possibility.

“I reckon he's takin Booms out.” Franky grinned.

“They do always seem a little cozy when they get together.”

“You should have seen him yesterday, never put his fuckin phone down, but ya know me not one to pry and all that.”

“Since when does Francesca Doyle not ask questions?” Allie laughed.

“Watch it blondie…ya know I'm never nosey, just a little curious…And if it is Booms he's takin out then I think we all want to know, least I don't have to give this one the inquisition.”

“Or try scaring him to death.” Bea added.

“Yeah that too…well I can't sit here for the rest of the day, see ya Tuesday Red.”

As soon as Franky left the stress of the day that Bea had felt from the moment her eyes had opened suddenly melted away, up to that point she had felt like an old computer that was running way too many programs at once. She'd felt slow and almost unable to do the things that she needed to do, even helping Allie with lunch had been a struggle, but now she had emptied her mind of everything that was troubling her and she felt as if she were back to full processing speed. Allie had disappeared back to the kitchen almost as soon as Franky had left, the dishes had waited long enough and she remembered the last time they forgot about them when they got too caught up with other things, she didn't want to end up doing them later in the day or worse still have them still sitting there on Monday morning.

Sitting on the sofa Bea was happy that everything was finally heading in the direction that she had imagined even though they had had to give up their usual Sunday routine that generally consisted of laying in bed for most of the morning before either of them would even think about getting up and facing the mundane realities of life.

Allie left the kitchen completely unnoticed by Bea who was lost in thought, Allie and her dad had actually come up with some pretty good ideas for the bar, no matter how silly they might have sounded to her at the time the more she thought about it they sounded less silly and more a way of making the bar theirs.

Heading to the kitchen Bea expected Allie to be there and when she wasn't she looked out the back, it wasn't like Allie to ever get passed without her noticing, walking back the way she'd come she headed upstairs walking into their room finding Allie sprawled out under the covers of their bed.

“Found you, how did you get passed me?” Bea asked as she closed the door behind herself.

“You weren't paying attention, but I wasn't really that hard to find was I?” Allie smirked as she saw Beas eyes travel to the pile of discarded clothes that didn't include her underwear on the floor.

Getting out of bed she walked over to her.

“Not yet have a little patience babe.” Allie said as Bea had tried to kiss her.

Spinning her around she walked her slowly back towards the bed pulling off her shirt and adding it to the pile of clothes that she'd left there already before pushing her back onto the bed watching her sink into the mattress, Allie lay gracefully next to her on the bed before straddling her hips, Bea tried to sit up but Allie pushed her gently back down.

“Allie…” Bea was cut off before she could finish protesting when Allie lent down kissing her lips, Beas hands moving straight to back of her neck.

Allie pulled away, grabbing Beas hands and placed them gently back down by her sides. “No touching,” she whispered.

“That's not fair.” Bea pouted.

“Shhh.” Allie soothed as she brought her finger up to Beas lips before kissing her again.

Allie wanted to take her time she wanted to enjoy this but most of all she wanted Bea to enjoy everything she was going to do, breaking the kiss she moved to her jawline her neck then her collarbone, kissing every inch of skin that she could knowing that Bea was struggling to keep her hands from moving. She placed soft kisses across and down her chest and covered her abs in featherlight kisses.

“Allie.” Bea whispered a slight hint of desperation in her tone.

Allie could hear and feel the desperation to move her hands and generally Bea had no willpower when it came to not touching Allie in some way. Sitting up Allie took her hands in hers and and placed them on her hips allowing Bea to sit up.

Allie rested her head against Beas shoulder, “Your turn,” she whispered before moving her head slightly and biting gently on her earlobe. Bea instantly flipped them over kissing her neck as her hands moved over Allies smooth delicate skin both of them breathing rough and fast.

“You're irresistible.” Bea mumbled while kissing Allies chest, her hands finding their way to her bra clasp and removing it a few seconds later. The rest of their afternoon and most of the evening spent the way they had both wished they'd had the time to spend their morning.

———————————————

David pulled up outside Boomers feeling slightly nervous, they'd gone out together a few times but this was their first proper date and the first time he'd ever picked her up from home as they'd always chosen to meet at where ever they were going. Walking up the path to the door he took a few deep breaths, reaching the door he hesitated for a couple of seconds before knocking. Boomer jumped up off the sofa her heart feeling like it was beating out of her chest, she'd never agreed to be picked up from home before by anyone but David was different, he was always a complete gentleman and the fact that Franky already liked him meant that this time she wasn't going to be hearing what a loser he was and that she could do better. Checking herself in the mirror as she walked to the door she was pleased with what she saw and hoped that David would notice how much trouble she'd gone to.

“Wow…you…you look stunning.” David swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat as he held his hand out that contained the huge bunch of flowers he'd purchased an hour earlier, “These are for you.”

“Thank you…come in for a minute will ya, can I get ya a drink?”

“I could use some water.” David said as he followed Boomer through to the kitchen and watched her arrange the flowers in the vase she had pulled out of a cupboard.

Boomer felt the tears building in her eyes, no one had ever been so thoughtful, no one had ever even given her so much as a tiny bunch of hand picked flowers never mind a huge bunch that they had obviously taken time to choose.

“There's water in the fridge, grab ya self a bottle and go sit on the sofa I'll be through in a sec as soon as I've finished doing this.”

Boomer quickly finished up arranging the flowers before wiping the unshed tears from her eyes and taking the vase to the living room putting it down on the coffee table smirking a little as she sat down her eyes drawn to David as he took a drink from the bottle in his hand. Boomers nerves had eased, David was a great guy, sweet and kind and she knew they had a lot in common already. David smiled at her before his gaze fell back to the coffee table that was obviously made of reclaimed wood, he could make out the old nail holes in the deeply stained wood and wondered where it had originally come from, an old barn or warehouse maybe.

“I absolutely love this coffee table Booms where ever did you get it? I've never seen one like it anywhere.”

“Oh, that old thing.” Boomer grinned. “Well I…um…I made it myself yeah…there was like this old barn that this farmer was gonna knock down this time when I went back home and I kinda brought loads of it back home with me yeah. Made the dining table as well.” She laughed a little nervously as she pointed to it.

“Wow, you're just full of surprises aren't ya?” David smiled brightly back at her, “Ya want to get outta here, don't want to miss the start of the movie do we?”

They both sat engrossed in the movie that was playing out on the screen in front of them, barely noticing the popcorn as they ate it. The screen went black and silence descended for a few moments, the typical movie ploy to heighten the drama, depriving them of light and sound just long enough to peak Boomers fear and her hand flailed to grab onto Davids. Almost as soon as it had turned into darkness and silence the intensity was back at full throttle, bright, loud, fast and shocking as David kept hold of her hand not caring if he did drop the popcorn or not, he looked over at Boomer and smiled, she wasn't the kind of person to drag him along to some enigmatic artsy movie that you felt you needed to really dress up for, Boomer loved action and horror and he couldn't be any happier, she really was very special and he hoped that he wouldn't disappoint her in any way. He was tired of relationships that were more like junk food, here one minute and gone the next. He wanted a relationship that was like a healthy meal followed by that scandalous desert you said you really shouldn't have. More than anything he'd seen how much Bea had changed and he wanted that, someone who would see his heart and his soul and still love him no matter what he might have done in the past, he wanted someone who saw what he was born to be and not just the person the world had made him be.

After the movie they grabbed a bite to eat before David took Boomer home, all the tension that had kept him awake over the last 36 hours had melted into nothing a few hours previously and he was pretty sure that Boomer had been feeling that way when he arrived at her front door. He'd spent most of Saturday sitting in the office texting back and forth with Boomer and worrying about this, their first real date and now he didn't know why he had worried at all.

David walked her back to her front door their fingers entwined in a loose grip, “I have to work tomorrow and I have classes until 4pm on Tuesday but I'd like to take you out for dinner if you want to. We could go to Wills place…or is it Bea and Allies now? Never mind we could go there and then have a few drinks after in the bar.”

“Errr, yeah I'd like that but…might not be the best place to go right cos ya know what I get like yeah...when I have a drink.”

“I don't care about that Booms.” David chuckled, “You enjoy yourself and I like to see you enjoying yourself but if you'd rather go someplace else…or not go at all.” He dropped his head and looked at his feet.

“No, no I'd really like that….ya really don't mind that I get silly?”

“Not at all, you wouldn't be you if you didn't do the things you do, and I happen to like who you are.” David smiled before he pulled her in close placing a brief kiss on her lips instantly stopping all anxious thoughts that had been in both their heads.

“I'll pick you up at six on Tuesday then.” David grinned before turning and heading back down the path.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone see that coming? Actually I had thought about the Boomer/David relationship and put it to the back of my mind for a while.


	132. Chapter 132

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "What a terrible time to be alive if you're prone to overthinking!" George Ezra
> 
> And for me that is certainly the truth, I spent way too long overthinking this chapter, considerably more time than I spent writing it it seems. I apologise for the delay in posting a new chapter, I'll try not to let it happen again!

The last four weeks to Bea at least seemed to have dragged, if you'd have asked Franky she would say that they had passed in a blur and gone far too quickly for her liking. It was now Saturday and Bea had gone into the office to clear out her desk and take the last few personal items she had there. Liz sat silently at her desk dominated by a profound sadness, fatigue engraved on her face. Like Franky she had never believed that a Bea would ever leave, her eyes moved to the side when she heard Bea leaving her office for the last time laughing at something that David had just said and they became glazed in a glassy layer of tears. As she blinked the tears dripped from her eyes sliding down her cheeks, biting her lip in an attempt to stop the sound that wanted to escape from her mouth.

As Bea put the box she was carrying down on the desk her heart sank, she never intended to upset anyone, least of all Liz.

“Liz…I…I have to do this, you understand that?”

Liz wiped her eyes and turned towards the window. “I know love, I'm just being a silly old fool.”

“I'll never be far away, and I'm not going to forget about you…you've helped me so much Liz over the years, you still help me, and I'm not leaving the country.”

“I know love…I know.” Turning back to face Bea she smiled a sad smile, “Things just wont be the same around here without you, it'll take some getting used to not hearing you and Franky bickering like little kids when neither of you want to admit you're wrong.”

When Franky walked out of her office she didn't seem to be fairing any better than Liz except Franky didn't know why she was sad anymore, how can you still be sad about something that has already happened, the way she looked at it there was no point in crying over spilled milk. Wiping her eyes on her sleeve she tried to smile but today it just didn't reach her eyes they way it usually did and there was no cheeky smirk that always seemed to be there.

“You as well? Shit all I need now is for David to start crying and you'll definitely set me off, come here ya big sap.”

Bea pulled Franky in a hug. “You'll look back at this next week and wonder what all the fuss was about.”

“Won't make me miss seein ya ugly mug around here everyday though will it?”

“Franky, we've shared so much and I know how hard this is, we'll always have the memories, the good and the bad.”

“Yeah…yeah…and I can bug ya at the bar, let ya know how things are goin.”

“Just don't make it a regular thing!” Bea laughed. “Now come on the three of you, I'll take you over the bar treat you to lunch in the restaurant it's not like your busy.”

And that was the truth, Franky had turned work down since she knew Bea was really going to leave, it didn't seem to matter so much anymore, Bridget had called her out on her bad mood and that had made her sulk a little more, she knew she was being childish but her mood wouldn't improve no matter what she did.

Sitting in the restaurant they chatted and laughed, reminiscing on past cases and poking fun at each other before retreating back to the bar for a drink or two, sitting at the bar Franky had gone quiet, slowly prising the label off the bottle sat in front of her lost in her own thoughts. She wasn't losing her best friend they just weren't going to work together anymore how was she going to handle the responsibility on her own? Bea held her up, the same way she'd held Bea up when things were really falling apart and even though that seemed like forever ago it was something she would never wipe from her memory. Bea always seemed to know when she wasn't feeling good and could in the end always lighten her mood. They saved each other, protected each other although Franky still beat herself up about what had happened and still questioned her actions that day, every single what if was ever present in her mind and it didn't matter who tried to convince her that even if she had stayed in the office the outcome would have been the same or worse given Franky's hotheadedness. Even though she knew that they would always be there for each other, pick each other up if they fell, wipe each other hot gloomy tears when it felt like there was no one else there who wanted to hear their shit, yes she knew all that because that's what they did. That was what they did, they'd already shared those moments and no matter what they were doing or where they were they would still be best friends.

Bea turned her attention to David who had been speaking to Shane.

“So come on, you've been quiet enough for too long now, you and Booms?” It was strange that Boomer hadn't said anything and Bea was getting impatient.

“Yeah its true, she was worried about what Franky would say so asked me not to say anything.”

“Well shit…Franky loves ya, Booms knows that. So everything's going good?”

“Better than good Bea, I never thought I'd meet someone like her, she makes me want to be a better person even when I think I can't.”

“I know how that feels, before Allie…before Allie I didn't feel as if I was worth anything, I was alive but not living I just existed trying to do the right thing and then she crashed into my life and changed everything.”

———————————————

The first six weeks of owning the bar had its fair share of ups and downs, they promoted Shane to bar manager, hired four new bar staff and hired a restaurant manager when the long days started getting too much. Neither of them knew how Will had done it all, he was there from opening to closing most days, after the first two weeks of working flat out without a day off they were both exhausted and decided that they couldn't go on like that. Bea did most of the paperwork and stocktaking which she was happy with, she did put in an appearance behind the bar if it was busy and Allie concentrated on the restaurant leaving Shane and Linda to concentrate on the bar. It seemed to have been the best idea, they worked regular hours and had more time to spend with each other.

Franky had popped in on more than a few occasions just to let Bea know how things were getting along without her, she still missed having her around the office and she had given the guy David had told her about a two month trial she'd even started taking on more work again when she found out that Richard really was a great fit, it didn't hurt that he didn't mind sharing an office with David and Liz liked him. They hadn't spoken about who was going to buy Beas half of the business since they decided that they would wait for David to get his license and then take it from there. Bea may not work there but she was still part of the place and Franky hoped that she wouldn't want to sell, somehow some misguided thoughts along the way made her think that once it was sold Bea wouldn't want to keep giving her advice when she felt like she was hitting her head against a brick wall like she had a week earlier when a simple person trace had her baffled.

David and Boomer were becoming regular fixtures in the place, usually in the bar after a movie and a burger, Boomers favourite kind of date, but at least once a week David would call and book a table in the restaurant and Allie made sure that they always got the same out of the way table so they had some privacy, strange that they still hadn't said anything to anyone about their relationship.

Monday nights had become Karaoke night much to Beas annoyance when Allie had first suggested it but it was proving to be successful only after a couple of weeks, the bar was never empty on any night but Monday nights now were always packed. After the first successful night Allie had suggested that they leave Shane in charge of the bar on Monday mornings and Thomas, the restaurant manager, in charge of the restaurant and they would work later in the day, everything had always worked out when they had started to take Sundays off again together and they were both looking forward to spending more time together.

Walking into the bar together that evening was like walking into a hundred different conversations all in loud voices but one stood out over all the rest, Boomer. This was going to be a long night and and it wasn't even 7pm, and finding where their friends were sitting wasn't a problem they just had to follow the sound of Boomers voice.

“What did you two do to this place Red?” Franky asked with a grin.

“Nothing to do with me, this is all on Allie.”

“What's all on me?” Allie asked as she wandered over to the table after speaking to Linda.

“This…karaoke night.”

“Oh yeah.” Allie chuckled. “Bea hated the idea, said it was a waste of time and she wasn't going to have any part of it, kinda funny that the regulars sing more than any of the new crowd that come in…although when they start requesting country songs you know their going to get the whole bar stirred up.”

“We have to work can't stand here talking to you lot all night.” Bea mumbled as she started walking away.

“She's still a little pissed at me I think because my idea is paying off, but she's right we do have to work.” Allie giggled before following Bea through to the office.

Bea hung back in the office for a while, she hated the bar being this full and wondered why she'd decided that she'd rather work there than in the restaurant, it was quieter back there than it ever was in the bar, but Monday was the only late shift they worked and they were getting more time together and that was something she wasn't going to complain about. Making her way through to the bar where the karaoke was set up she spotted David was just about to sing before she even noticed that Shane was still there.

“Why are you still here, your shift finished ages ago?”

“I know, just wanted to hang back a while when I saw how busy it was.”

“Shane you can't work every hour there is.”

“I don't call this work, it's fun, I love hearing this and if I can help out while I'm enjoying myself where's the harm?”

“Ok you've helped out, now get yourself round the other side of the bar and I'll get you a drink.”

Finding the only remaining empty seat at the bar Shane sat down turning his attention to David who had just started singing, his voice was smooth and clear and quite soothing in a way. Bea sat a bottle down on the bar in front of Shane and watched David, it was obvious that he hadn't taken his eyes off Boomer for a second as he sang and Bea couldn't help but wonder how much longer they were going to go on like this before they told everyone that they were together.

The restaurant given that it was a Monday night was almost full and everyone seemed happy, a few of the diners had asked Allie if there would be room in the bar after they had finished their meals and she decided to look in. As she pushed open the the door that separated the bar from the restaurant the music filled the air even more without any effort, like the waves filling a hole that someone had dug on the beach, the sound rushed in and around everyone in the restaurant. She looked on in amusement as she saw David singing his gaze never leaving Boomer. Looking round the bar to see how full it was she found herself wishing it was summer already then they could make better use of the outdoor space, looking closer at their friends everyone of them except Boomer continued their conversation, Liz sat tapping her foot in time with the music and they all seemed relaxed, even Bea when she looked over at the bar seemed not to even notice how full the bar now was as she started serving another customer.

It was shortly after 10pm when Allie ventured back to the bar, the restaurant was closing soon and the rest of the staff could handle closing up while she went to help out. Just as she had predicted one of the regulars got up to take his turn, an older bearded man who always sang ‘family tradition’ by Hank Williams, sometimes more than once a night but no one ever seemed to mind. She reached the bar just as he started singing and Bea shook her head.

“How many times has he sung that tonight?”

“Only once, I think there have been far too many people wanting to sing tonight, think I might go and take a break.”

“Don't you dare, if I have to listen to it then so do you.”

He actually didn't have a bad voice and after the first time he sung it every further rendition had earned him a response from everyone in the bar, as soon as he sang the line, “Hank why do you drink?” The crowd responded, “To get drunk.” When he sang, “Hank why do you roll smoke?” It earned him a, “To get high!” When the song was over he always got a round of applause, everyone did, but for him it always seemed louder as he walked back to the table where his friends were sitting.

It was hard not to notice how jubilant the crowd in the bar were, towards the end of the night they sang along with most of the songs in the way that the inebriated and happy do. They rubbed shoulders and never minded getting their toes trodden on as they made their way to the bar for that one last drink. The atmosphere was always one of excitement and even when the cool air entered the bar when someone had wandered in or out the air was still punctuated with hollers and whistles.

After closing up there were only Linda and the bar staff left along with their friends, it had been a long time since they had spent anytime together and after getting them all another drink they sat and chatted with them for about half hour before Boomer stood up.

“So right…ummm, yeah well I think ya already guessed but me and David yeah…we're together so if ya gonna start tellin me that he's no good or….”

Franky jumped in before she had finished what she was trying to say. “Bout bloody time ya told us.”

“You got nuffin else to say?”

“Na…honestly Booms I'm happy for ya, we're all happy for ya.”

“Yeah?” Boomer eyed Franky nervously as everyone else agreed with what Franky had just said.

“Yeah Booms…” Franky nodded.

Boomer sat down just as Allie stood up grabbing Beas hand and pulling her to her feet. “I think this calls for another drink.” Allie grinned as she looked at Boomer.

Another forty five minutes later everyone left leaving Bea and Allie to check that everything was locked up for the night since Linda had taken care of everything else that needed doing before joining them for a drink.

When they finally arrived home they both fell into bed exhausted.

“That was a crazy night.” Bea said as she tried to hold back a yawn and failed miserably.

“I know, I just don't get why it took Boomer so long to tell everyone, she must have known Franky wasn't going to give her a hard time about David.”

“You would have thought that, but every guy Boomers ever introduced us to has always been a loser.”

They both yawned as the snuggled closer together both falling asleep a few minutes later.

———————————————

Joan Ferguson was angry, she shouldn't be sitting in prison, this was all because of Derek Channing that incompetent fool of a man who's only aim was to chase rainbows aiming for that elusive pot of gold at the end of it. He wasn't realistic about anything, in her mind he must have always been a fantasist if he though that ignoring what she told him was the best solution. Pacing her darkened cell she mumbled to herself incoherently, her plan was coming together, ‘what a fool,’ she said under her breath as she sat on the bed. She'd bided her time listening and watching, always listening and watching, the other prisoners were inconsequential to her, they fought, argued took drugs to try and block out the nightmare they were living in. Each and every woman there was there because of the decisions they had made she was a victim of circumstances that she had tried to control and because of one stupid little man she was sat surrounded by criminals, ‘pond scum,’ she thought to herself .

Her darkened cell was like something out of time, a place only to rest, to dream, scheme and plan without consequence or fear of reprisals. The darkness fast became her sanctuary, a place to recharge as she closed her eyes she saw her plan slowly falling into place taking her to another place in time, a place to forget that the women that surrounded her would cry and scream into their pillows in the darkness it faded away none of it registered in her ears. The guards payed her no mind, acted as if she wasn't even there except for one who was paid to be her eyes and ears in the parts of the prison that were inaccessible to her. Joan towered over officer Brenda Murphy, looked down her nose at the woman but Joan had found her weakness, she was close to losing her job after being reprimanded by the governor for her incompetence on more than one occasion and it was all she had even though she disliked intently dealing with the inmates, Joan offered her a way to get back into the governors good graces, it wasn't lagging merely a means to an end a way out of her prison cell. Officer Murphy had brought to the attention of the governor various drug stashes leading to random cell tosses and Joan never battered an eye lid, had no need to worry because everything she needed was hidden away safely.

‘One more night.’ Joan muttered under her breath as she lay back on her bed staring into the inky blackness that surrounded her, the nightly craziness around was forgotten, the darkness took it all away, even her own form laying on the bed was lost to it. She would sleep for a while content that when this night passed she would awake to the morning with bold confidence safe in the knowledge that tomorrow night she would be far from this cell and the degenerates that surrounded her day after day.

The blackness slowly began to engulf her thoughts, stretching out in front of her like a map, she had no fear of anything as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Officer Murphy was her ticket out and out she was going right out the front of the building.

It was barely daylight when her eyes sprang open and she sat up, almost robotic in her movements, before standing up and stretching, today was the day when those moronic idiots found out she was missing she would already have been out of that dismal place for an hour. Digging under her mattress she retrieved the envelope and the mobile phone she had hidden there the previous day, switching on the phone there was a message waiting for her informing her that she would be met at the gate, dropping the phone on the bed she opened the envelope taking out a picture that she had spent weeks looking at, thinking about, planning and now it was possible her day had come.

She heard the gate open and turned her attention to her cell door as it slowly opened.

“You ready?” Officer Murphy asked nervously.

“Oh my dear why so nervous? As soon as I walk out of this place and I'm free you'll be rewarded for your time, like you've already been rewarded.”

“There's no time for chatter Ferguson, it's now or never.”

“You seem to forget I call the shots, I pay you well, this has the least risk no one will suspect you unless you cross me in any way.”

“Or unless you get caught, come on you need to get changed now.”

Following Officer Murphy through the corridors to the shower block she kept a tight hold on the phone and envelope, the only two things she would be taking out of that awful place with her. Entering the shower block she discarded her prison uniform and quickly changed into the prison officers uniform that had been left there for her. She neatly folded the prison uniform and left it on the bench before picking up the phone and envelope and put them in her pocket and checking herself in the mirror. She was very aware that there was still a risk but she had chosen this specific time to do this because with finance and staff cuts early morning was worth the risk. The night shift was almost completely staffed by officers that were on secondment from other prisons and officers that were new to the job, all she had to do was walk out of the prison with some of those officers and she'd be out, the first headcount for the day wasn't until an hour after the shift changeover and no one should be able to escape while locked in the cell block.

“The governors in early for a staff meeting with the morning shift, they'll all be going straight to his office so hang around outside the staff room till you know it's safe to go.”

“And where may I ask will you be? I'm paying you to get me out of here not leave me to my own devices.”

“I'll be on the front desk, the guards have to sign out obviously we have to make it look like you have.”

Joan stood outside the staff room trying to make herself blend in as she watched Brenda Murphy walk away, if any part of this plan could fail it was now as she stood by herself waiting to move. An officer who she'd never seen before walked out of the staff room, smiled at her and walked away silently as she breathed a sigh of relief. A couple of minutes later four officers who she'd never seen before exited the staff room paying no attention to her and walked down the corridor, this was her chance and she followed a few steps behind them passing close behind them through the security gates, ‘This is too easy,’ she thought to herself as they finally reached the front desk, keeping a few steps behind the rest of the guards signed out. Picking up the pen she looked at Officer Murphy.

“Now we're done.” Joan's face remained calm and serious as she dropped the pen and walked out of the door into the fresh air, retrieving the phone from her pocket she quickly made a call as she walked calmly across the car park and out of the front gate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Joan's on the loose, that can only spell trouble.


	133. Chapter 133

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I happy with this chapter? Am I ever?.....the answer is no then!
> 
> Will you all be happy with this chapter? You'll have to let me know.
> 
> Is it safe for work? Most probably not!....On reflection........DEFINITELY NOT!!!
> 
> Enjoy!

Bea woke up tangled in Allies arms just like every morning, it was still the best feeling in the world waking up with her still sleeping beside her, she could hardly remember now what it felt like to be alone not that she even wanted to. She had the life that she wanted and nothing was going to take that away from her not now, not ever.

“You never change do you?” Allie mumbled.

“Huh?”

“Every morning when you wake up before I do you lay there staring at me, I'm not going to disappear babe.”

“I know, I just love looking at you, sometimes I still find it hard to believe that you're still here with me.”

“There's nowhere else I'm ever going to want to be.”

The alarm going off grabbed their attention and they both groaned, even though they now spent their days working together neither of them ever wanted to get out of bed and leave the comfort of each other's arms.

Joan slept better than she had in months, hidden away in the house that had been purchased for her by an old associate. The old house had many advantages, it had a secret cellar that would have served the original owners well during the days of prohibition, it was so well concealed that even if the police raided the house it would remain undiscovered, it even had an old concealed tunnel that ran for at least a mile away from the house should she ever need to get away in a hurry unseen by anyone. It was the perfect place for her the driveway was obscured from the road by a high wall and she'd had every top of the range security feature installed ready for her arrival. The house had been in a state of disrepair when it had been purchased but the cost of doing the repairs hadn't discouraged her from wanting it and Joan always got what she wanted no matter what the cost.

Making herself a decent breakfast for the first time in months she sat and ate slowly, savouring every mouthful, the prison food was tasteless slop how she had managed to eat any of it she wasn't sure. After washing the dishes she had a proper look around the house before venturing into the cellar, a stack of boxes sat in a corner and a desk and computer had already been set up. She would spend more time there than anywhere else in the house, she had plans to make and scores to settle. She couldn't get her hands on Channing or Jesper but Bea Smith was going to find out what it was like to lose everything her mind was made up and her little whore was going to watch what was going to happen to her, for right now though she had things to organise, people to contact and places she needed to visit. That was the tricky part, she needed to get back to her old house and knew that now the police would be looking for her, ‘think, think,’ she muttered under her breath as she paced the cellar floor in the same way she'd paced her cell floor for hours on end.

Entering the bar that morning Bea knew she had the orders to complete for both the bar and the restaurant and Allie had been dragging her heels letting her know what she needed ordering, after sending the orders for the bar she wandered out of the office intending to find Allie in the restaurant and was surprised to find Franky and detective Ayoub talking to Allie and Shane. This couldn't be good she knew that but nothing could prepare her for what she was going to hear.

Sitting down in a chair that she pulled further away from the table that Franky and the detective were sitting at she sat in disbelief as she was told that Joan Ferguson had escaped. She had so many questions in her head creating more noise than she wanted to deal with, she left investigating behind because she really couldn't handle the thoughts of anything happening that would take her away from Debbie or Allie and now they were telling her that a psychopathic bitch had somehow managed to escape a high security prison. Allie stood behind her her hands resting on her shoulders hoping that she could keep her a little calmer than she was feeling herself.

“You're telling me that a freak like her was able to get out of a high security prison, what happened? She couldn't have just walked out of the front door.” The anger in Beas voice was evident.

“Red ya gotta calm down their doing everything they can to find her.”

“Oh so your not even slightly worried about this Franky? For fucks sake we're part of the reason she got arrested…you, me and David, you think she won't come after one of us…all three of us?”

“Yeah course I'm worried but that's not gonna change the fact that she's out there and we have to do whatever it takes to stay safe.”

“Safe!…Safe, none of us are safe.” Bea stood up, she was pretty sure she knew that Joan Ferguson would have already had a plan before she escaped and the uncertainty that thought left her feeling was going to eat away at her.

“Bea please, no one could have predicted that this would happen, I have other detectives at the prison…unfortunately it appears that she had help from a guard and a lot of the CCTV footage appears to have been wiped but they have backup copies, unfortunately we seem to be having trouble gaining access to them and are waiting on a digital forensic expert to take a look at the computer system.”

“Oh well that's just perfect then, we'll all sit around waiting with a target on our backs while you get some expert to drag his feet and pretend to find what's hiding in some corrupt files.” Sarcasm dripped from Beas voice, she knew how slowly the police could work, if they did what they were meant to be doing in the first place.

“I understand how frustrating this is for all of you, but trust me I'm making sure that we get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible, no one will be dragging their heels I can assure you.”

Bea was in no mood to listen to anymore, her head was full of chaotic thoughts and she needed to get away from Franky and detective Ayoub, if a guard was involved then a bigger shit storm was on the horizon, it could take weeks to find out which guard or guards were involved, who would own up to being part of a prisoners escape? Although whoever it was that helped the freak escape obviously had no idea what and who they were dealing with. Everything in her told her to stay away from this, maybe leave Shane in charge of the place and take Allie away until she had been found but Bea didn't run away, didn't backdown no matter how afraid she was and if she needed to do a little more detective work one last time she would, she didn't want to but if it put an end to whatever Joan Ferguson had planned sooner rather than later she was prepared to do it.

Sitting in the office with the door open she could still hear Franky, Allie and Shane talking, the bar was quiet since it was still forty minutes before they were due to open. Picking her phone up from the desk she thought for a few minutes, she shouldn't do this, she wasn't part of that life anymore but the temptation to help was too great. Scrolling through her contacts she found an old familiar name she was looking for and hit call.

“Well if it ain't my old pal Bea Smith, long time since I heard from ya must be serious.”

“Colin listen I can't really talk right now can we meet? Lunch time?”

“Sure but I heard you got out of the business, thought you an ya girl were running a bar.”

“I did and we are but this is serious, if you don't want to help me out then just say so and stop fucking about.”

“Na I wanna help if I can, for a price of course, an old crim like me don't live on fresh air ya know.”

Arranging where to meet him she hung up and walked through to the bar, Allie wasn't going to be happy when she told her what she was going to do she knew that but this was a one off, she wasn't going back to work with Franky no matter what but she had to do something didn't she, if she just sat around and did nothing she would drive herself crazy and argue none stop with Allie and that was the last thing she wanted to happen, they'd disagree, might even argue for a few hours, she'd take the risk that she ended up sleeping in the spare room if what she had in mind could put an end to all of this sooner rather than later.

Franky looked over to where Bea was standing, the bar separating them, and by the look on her face she knew she had an idea, that was how she always looked when she had a plan and for a few seconds it was just like old times then Franky realised that Bea didn't really want to be any part of this, she'd made the reasons for her decision clear and Franky respected that even though something told her that whatever she had in mind she would go through with no matter what and she wouldn't convince her otherwise.

“Ya got a plan don't ya?” Franky asked as she glanced between Bea and Allie.

“Not so much of a plan, just thought someone might be able to help out, get some information that Ayoub wouldn't get her hands on at least not as quickly as we could.”

Allie frowned but she knew there was no point in saying anything, once Beas mind was made up about something she wouldn't convince her that it wasn't a good idea even if it wasn't. Sitting down Allie prepared herself to hear just about anything, and after all she knew she should really be used to hearing crazy ideas by now she'd heard plenty of Bea and Franky's ideas in the past so why would now be any different.

“You remember Coin…Colin Bates?” Bea asked as she looked seriously at Franky.

“Who could forget Colin, used to find out some of the best info I ever heard, thought he was back inside though.”

“Have you been living under a rock Franky, he's been on parole for the last…ummm…eight months.”

“Ok…so go on what about him?”

“We're meeting him at lunch time, no arguments Franky.”

Franky just held her hands up, she wasn't going to argue, there was never any point but she doubted Allie was going to go along with this plan. Allie looked at Franky who shook her head before she said that she needed to get back to the office to let Richard and David know what was happening, when detective Ayoub had arrived at the office they had both been busy with other things, Davids morning lecture had been cancelled and he'd arrived at the office just before she arrived and as soon as he'd seen her he'd hidden himself away in the office, every time she arrived it was never good news.

Allie found Bea sitting in the office once more after completely forgetting that she was meant to be doing the orders for the restaurant.

“Do you know what you're doing?”

“Allie I…I can't just sit around and do nothing.”

“I know you can't, but I need to know that you aren't going to go looking for her, I need you to be safe…Debbie…your dad, we all need you to be safe.”

“I'm just meeting someone who might be able to help get some information out of the prison, Colin has a sister who's in the same prison, if she knows anything, and trust me she usually does, he's the only person she'll talk to…it has to be worth a shot.”

“Just promise me you won't look for her.”

“I won't, I don't want to be anywhere near her, I just want her found and if I can help even just a little I have to do something, the police wouldn't even think to talk to half the people me and Franky know, they aren't all good guys”

Allie thought for a few moments, she wasn't going to argue, Bea said she wouldn't look for her and she had to trust what she was saying.

“Get out of here, I'll do the orders for the restaurant and Shane can handle the bar with his eyes closed but you better be at home when I get there.”

“Are you sure? I really only need a couple of hours I….”

“Go already, you'll just sit here until lunch time thinking about nothing else anyway so go over to the office and talk to Franky.”

Bea smiled, “I just need one favour…can you drop me off?”

Allie laughed, she'd forgotten that that morning they'd gone to work in her car.

———————————————

Joan had set about opening the boxes their contents all alien to her she may have been locked away but Joan certainly hadn't been out of sight or out of mind to everyone, she payed well and no one ever questioned where her money came from because the people who were willing to work for her didn't care. She didn't see herself as a criminal but everyone she had chosen to spend her adult life associating herself with were criminals of one kind of another. Her most reliable go to person since her incarceration had been Roz Jago, she'd met her a few months before her arrest while she was working for Vinnie and found her to be quite useful when it came to supplying her with the information she needed and she had proved to be the most loyal follower she could ask for since her arrest. Every single box was full of the information she had asked for and more.

Opening one box she pulled out a range of photographs that had all been enlarged, looking through them made her angry, this woman was more than responsible for putting her in this position, she stared at one photograph of Bea for longer than any other, she would be hers to do with as she pleased soon enough and she would suffer far worse than she had suffered at anyone else's hands. Pinning the pictures to the wall she pulled out the contents of another box, one that seemed to be concentrated on Allie and she smiled to herself, ‘You will watch her suffer then you will be gone, you are weak, both so weak.’ Joan said to herself. Digging through the boxes she continued to pin pictures to the wall, not just of Bea and Allie, Debbie, Franky, Bridget and David were all on her list, she didn't differentiate between them, they were all involved and all would pay.

Finding pages and pages of records of all their movements she found that Brayden Holt obviously was useful, he'd followed Debbie and she knew her exact routine within half an hour of starting to read. Bea and Allie had surprised her, ‘If she thinks leaving her business in the hands of Doyle and running a bar with her slut will save her she's delusional.’ Joan laughed to herself, the most useful information came about in the form of the hours they worked, Mondays they were the last to leave, ‘not hard to plan after all.’ She thought to herself. Everything she needed was right before her and she was convinced that no matter what she could pull anything off right now.

Allie dropped Bea off at the office, reminding her that she expected her home when she got there, Bea had no intention of being late, all she wanted to do was speak to Franky, meet with Colin to arrange what she needed from him and go home, three or four hours and she'd be done, then she'd make her absence up to Allie one way or another.

The smile on Liz's face widened into a beaming grin the second she saw Bea walk through the office door.

“It's so good to see you love, let me get you a coffee.”

“Thanks Liz, Franky in her office?”

“Yes love, go through I'll bring you both a one.”

Bea didn't bother knocking taking Franky by surprise, she was on the phone when she walked in and judging by the tone of her voice she was not happy about something. Finishing the call she hung up and smiled a weak smile at Bea.

“Sup Red?”

“I'm worried Franky, all this shit is because of finding Dana, what if Ferguson comes after us all, no ones going to find her I'm sure of that.”

“We can't think like that but I get where you're coming from, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried. Ya really think Colin could help?”

“He has in the past and if his sister knows anything she'll tell him, maybe we can give her a nudge in the right direction and she'll ask questions for us.”

“What ya thinking?”

“She's inside, make her time a little easier and she'll be willing to help.”

“Maybe, throwing a little cash at a big fucking problem never hurt in the past I seem to remember.”

“Exactly, we're going get some useful information one way or another, I doubt Ayoub will be interested in questioning people that weren't in her unit, and a prisoner can find out just about anything if they have an incentive.”

Arriving at the small backstreet cafe where they were meeting Colin a few minutes before twelve they were surprised to find he was already there.

“Good to see ya both, now how can I help?”

“You heard about Joan Ferguson?”

“Hard not to, ya want me to ask questions? Our Sandra can help out, that's what ya wanted to ask ain't it?”

They had lunch together and discussed what they needed, Colin hated the police and hated the thought of helping them in anyway but he knew way too much about Joan Ferguson to let that stop him from helping, Bea and Franky had always been good to him and he wanted to help them if he could.

Franky dropped Bea off at home arranging that she'd meet her at the bar in a couple of days, Colin had promised to call Franky as soon as he had visited his sister, they were in luck really he was visiting her the next day. Bea sat in the kitchen for a while, no matter how many times she sat at home alone she was never going to get used to it, she laughed about it a little, how once she could have sat there for hours and never given it a second thought but now without Allie there she had to find something to occupy her time. She wasn't sure anymore if involving herself in all of this was what she should be doing, but she knew she had to do something sitting back and doing nothing wasn't an option for her.

When Allie walked through the front door she was happy, Bea was home and in the kitchen cooking dinner, part of her had doubted that she would be because she knew all too well what was prone to happen when she went to the office and started discussing things with Franky, but this time she'd obviously been home for hours. Walking into the kitchen she laughed when she found Bea standing there in just her shirt and underwear.

“Did you shower and forget to get dressed properly?”

“No, Idaho a shower and got dressed, then I had an accident with a bottle of water, I was going to get changed then I decided not to bother.”

“Right, that's the story and you're sticking to it?” Allie giggled but the look on Beas face told her she was telling the truth. “Ok, so I'm going for a shower, our head waiter decided that I'd look better wearing a bowl of soup.”

After they ate and did the dishes they retreated to the sofa for a while, telling each other about their days before Bea stood up taking Allie by the hands and pulling her gently up from the sofa and walked her upstairs to their room. She sat her at the foot of the bed and took a step back undoing each button on the black shirt she was still wearing slowly before shrugging it off allowing it to fall on the floor. Stepping towards Allie she pulled her shirt over her head, pulling her back up from the bed she undid her jeans and slid them down her legs before telling her to lie down on the bed, Allie wasn't going to argue as she did as she was told and then watched as Bea crawled up her body, stopping for a while to kiss her passionately before she began her descent down her body covering her in sensual kisses. As she kissed her neck and throat Allie moaned, she took her time kissing her shoulders and down her arms before slipping her arms round her back undoing her bra and sliding it slowly down her arms. Bea licked her left nipple gently and Allie groaned, doing the same to her right nipple earned her a hiss.

“Fuck Bea…that feels so good don't stop.”

Bea kissed her way down her stomach before rolling off her and turning her over so she was laying on her stomach and she began lavishing her back with gentle kisses, turning her back over again she slid her panties down her legs before removing them completely and dropping them on the floor. Allie couldn't find a single word as Bea crawled back up her body to kiss her again, she felt drunk, she murmured Beas name as she occasionally nibbled on her lower lip. Trailing her fingers through Beas curls she looked deep into her eyes seeing on love and pure desire there. Allie pulled her closer luxuriating in each caress, in each kiss as if each one was the first they had ever shared, she didn't quite know why but that was how it felt. Bea covered her neck and collarbone with kisses again before once again starting her descent down her body pausing briefly just to look up at Allie, her breathing laboured and her head sunk deeply into the pillow underneath it.

Bea kissed her hip as she gently slid a finger inside her, Allie was in her own little world until a second finger joined the first and her tongue slid lightly through her folds before she closed her lips the bundle of nerves and she started suck gently, one of Allies hands shot to the back of her head as the other raked her nails along her shoulder and as far down her back as she could reach. Her hips bucked wildly as she tried to keep up with the increasing pace of Beas fingers and tongue and her moans grew louder only causing Bea to move faster, harder and deeper, bringing Allie ever closer to a pleasurable oblivion. Bea raised her free hand meeting one of Allies entwining their fingers squeezing it slightly as Allie crashed over the edge.

Bea crawled back up her body kissing her lightly as she did while Allie collapsed back against the mattress, breathless certain she could hear Beas heart beating just as furiously as her own.

“I love you.” Bea mumbled against her cheek suddenly noticing a single tear running down her cheek.

“I love you too.” Allie whispered.

“What's wrong? Did I hurt you?”

“No, you've never hurt me, everything is perfect, you're perfect.” She paused for a second trying to collect her jumbled thoughts. “I just don't think I've ever experienced anything like that before, you're amazing but tell me something, and I'm not complaining really I'm not, but where did that come from?”

Bea moved to lay beside her, pulling the covers over them. “I think I spent too much time away from from you today.”

Their lips met again and they both smiled as they interlaced their fingers again, Bea brought her their hands up and softly kissed her fingers.

“I love you so much, I won't let that freak do anything to hurt you, I don't want to go back to my old life, I honestly don't, but I have to do something, I'll do anything to put her back where she belongs.”

“I know.” Allie replied almost incoherently as exhaustion started to take her over for a few seconds. “I love you so much more than I ever though I could ever love anyone.”

They lay tangled together for a while until Allie had recovered and when she did it was Beas turn to to get lost in the ecstasy that only Allie to give her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Joan's so full of herself I think, and you know I've surprised myself because I've already started the next chapter, now that's a miracle!
> 
> Since I'm still trying I have not failed.


	134. Chapter 134

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It appears to be Monday again, guess it must be since the clock tells me it is in fact 3:37am!

Franky burst into the bar ten minutes after they opened on Thursday followed thirty seconds later by Colin and detective Ayoub.

“Red…Red…ya here? Blondie? Anyone?”

Shane appeared behind the bar telling them that Bea and Allie were in the restaurant kitchen with the head chef making their final selection of dishes for the new menu, telling them to go through to the office when he saw a couple of the regulars walk in leaving one of the other bar staff to serve them as he went through to the restaurant.

A few minutes later Bea and Allie walked into the office.

“Tell me you found something out.” Bea said the second she saw Colin sitting with them.

“Nice of ya to finally join us Red…we got something but we ain't sure how much use it will be.”

Bea grabbed a couple of chairs so her and Allie could sit down, no matter how little they had found out she wasn't going to be standing up to hear it. She looked between the three of them scanning their faces looking for anything that would give them away, for any hint of bad news to come but she saw nothing.

“So?” She asked impatiently.

“Well its like this Red, Sandra knows more than we thought she might, gave up the name of the officer who helped the bitch escape, seems she actually did walk out the front fucking door.”

“You're kidding right?” Allie snapped, she had tried to think of different ways she could have got out since she'd heard about her escape but she had never really seriously considered for a second that she could actually have possibly just walked right out of there.

“So who was the guard? She's been arrested, you better be telling me she's been fucking arrested.” Bea wanted to know everything right now not in five minutes time.

“Calm down Red, we're gonna tell ya everythin alright, Jesus fuckin Christ ya ain't in the game anymore an ya just as fuckin impatient.”

“Yeah…sorry, but I want her caught, while she's out there none of us are safe we all know that.”

“Ok already, but it's not for me to tell ya an I know we're all sick to death of seeing the same detective and talkin about the same shit cos it's just been one shit show after another since Channing walked into our office but we just gotta get through this, one more time Red we got this.”

Bea was tired of this, all of it and she also knew that this time still might not be the last time, even walking away when she'd had enough wasn't a guarantee that it would ever be over and all because of one person who now wasn't even fit to stand trial and may never be.

Detective Ayoub felt that she had no place in this conversation but she was there for a reason, she was certainly tired of this coming back time and time again, it felt like it was never going to end, everyone involved could use a break, if she could just track Joan Ferguson down she'd shoot her herself provoked or not, she was exhausted by it all and could understand Beas reaction to the situation. Taking a few moments to get her thoughts together she told Bea and Allie all she could. Brenda Murphy had shown up late for her shift the day after Joan had walked out of the gates, raising suspicions with the detectives that were at the prison but the governor had told them that it was normal behaviour for her and she was on her final warning. After she was interviewed they had still been suspicious but she was suspended from duty shortly after and escorted from the prison by the governor himself. Colin had shown up to visit his sister and she had told him everything she knew, he'd called Franky the second he'd walked out of the prison and she'd called detective Ayoub. It was thanks to Colin that she had been arrested, she was just about to drive away with no destination in mind, all she knew was that she had to leave, she knew too much and couldn't take a chance that Joan wouldn't send someone after her. Roz Jago was under surveillance, it seemed Joan hadn't kept everything as close to her chest as she had thought she had, either that or she thought Brenda Murphy was a lot dumber. She had listened carefully to everything Joan had said, she'd even stood outside her cell and heard everything that she had said in her nightly outbursts, but she wasn't the only one to have heard her and two other prisoners in her unit had come forward with the exact same information that officer Murphy had given them. The hardest thing to say was that Brayden Holt had been watching Debbie and as yet they were unable to locate him.

Bea felt her panic grow stronger the instant Debbie's name was mentioned and she felt like a terrified child, she jumped out of her chair and moved round the room as if she had a hurricane inside her, her brain was demanding too much all at once and she had no idea what she was even doing. Her eyes were wild, Allie made her sit down eventually but when she started talking it was as if she just didn't have enough time to say everything that she needed to say her words were all jumbled together, every sentence was fragmented and her brain jumped from one thought to the next so quickly all her fears were tumbling out of her mouth completely uncensored by her brain. Allie and Franky had seen this all before and their words were bouncing off her like heavy rain. Allie stood right in front of her and Bea grabbed onto her hands so hard that her knuckles were white, trying to ask her if everything was going to be alright, Allie told her yes over and over again but it wasn't working, pulling her up from the chair she walked her out into the corridor and did the only thing she knew would calm her down, she planted soft kisses on her face until she stopped talking and kissed her back.

“Debbie.” Bea mumbled into Allies neck as she held on to her tightly.

“Babe, we need to hear what they are doing before we do anything else.”

Bea nodded, as terrified as she was she knew she was right, she kept a tight hold of Allies hand as they walked back into the office. Hearing that they were looking for Brayden was a slight relief but it wasn't until they heard that the university had already been informed of the situation and they had plain clothed officers keeping a close eye on Debbie that Bea started to feel slightly calmer. Brayden wasn't actually known to have ever attacked anyone, he was always more involved with the drugs side of the families criminal business and all they knew was that he had been watching her, it was unlikely that he would hurt her but they weren't taking any chances. The most likely outcome was that Joan wanted rid of Bea and Franky. Allie knew there was no point in them staying at the bar and eventually convinced Bea that Shane and Thomas with the help of the rest of the staff would be fine looking after the place.

———————————————

Jago looked around before she approached the entrance to the tunnel that led to Joan's hiding place, the damned annoying woman had called an hour earlier and demanded that she help her get to her old home, so here she was about to walk a fucking mile to meet a woman who she in fact despised but she payed well and the extra money would always come in handy. Checking one last time before she entered the tunnel she was sure that no one was following her but she wasn't as alert or as smart has she thought she was. She hadn't noticed that she was being followed since the cars following her changed every few streets, she'd seen nothing that should have alerted her. The police following her had no clue why she was going to a wooded area but they had their orders, do not lose sight of her and they watched her slip away out of sight holding back a few moments before following her into the darkness.

Jago was on edge, even the light from the torch she was holding wasn't helping to quash her fears, she hated being in the dark and the tunnel felt far too claustrophobic but she had to do this, Joan was not someone she wanted to cross. She had her money well hidden, even if she got caught helping her and went back to prison that would be something she would still have when she got out. The officers followed on quietly behind her hugging the wall, all it would take was for her to turn around and she would see them, there was no place to hide there. The further they walked the more they wondered if she would lead them to Ferguson or some other illegal activities.

Walking into the cellar Jago saw Joan looking at her wall of pictures.

“I need a gun.” Joan said without even as much as a glance over her shoulder.

“What?” Jago swallowed hard, a gun had never been part of the deal.

“Are you deaf?” Joan spun around. “I need a gun, knives as well, I'll make you a list…but first, tonight you are going to take me back to my old house, I have things I need to retrieve…I pay you remember that.”

The officers heard all of this and decided that they needed to make their retreat, if they hung around too long there was every chance they would be discovered and at least now they knew where Ferguson was, for the time being anyway. Arriving back at their car they radioed for other officers that were close by to go to their location, they needed to leave before they were spotted but needed eyes on Jago.

Detective Ayoub didn't know the area, and no one was aware that there was anything that the officers had described, it was a puzzle as she and other officers looked at property in the area stumbling straight into the house that they assumed the tunnel must lead to. It all seemed like something out of a book, all they needed now were spies and it would sound like a lame spy movie plot. But this was real and it was happening, after finding out the history of the lone house they found that it was quite possible that there was indeed a tunnel that led to it strange as it may sound to everyone who heard the new information since it had long since been assumed that any old prohibition tunnels would have most probably collapsed a long time ago.

“Joan…I…I can get you that but…”

“But nothing, can you get me a gun or not?”

“I can get anything you need but it will take a couple of days.”

Joan thought for a few minutes, she couldn't rush this, she needed time to make sure everything was in place, she could work with a couple of days couldn't she? Her priority right now was retrieving what she had left behind, without that her plan was doomed to failure and she would either end up dead or back rotting in that prison cell facing even more charges and more time, no she was not going to face that, she was going to be the one who would get her revenge on the people who put her there in the first place and then disappear never to be heard from again.

“You can get me to my old home tonight?”

“Not a problem.” Jago sounded confident but inside she was in turmoil, she shouldn't be here, should have just left Joan, taken a hammer to the phone she had only for Joan to contact her on and smashed it into a million pieces. She was in too deep now, even if she went to the police and told them everything she knew she would go back to prison and with her luck it would be the same one Joan was in.

She did and said all the right things while she was around Joan, tried never to let her see any hint of fear, Joan fed on fear and chaos, she'd seen what she could do and heard even more about it. Assuring her that she would be back after dark she left, the sooner Joan was gone the better she would feel.

———————————————

Franky and Bridget arrived at Bea and Allies a little before 6pm, this was starting to feel like old times but it wasn't, Franky knew that, they'd spent hours sitting down together for dinner, discussing a case, tonight was different and they all knew it. More information about Joan Ferguson had filtered through as the day had gone on and Franky knew that the woman truly was a freak. Allie pulled the door open greeting them both and letting them know that Bea was sat out back, the weather the last few days had begun to warm up considerably and Allie had ordered her out of the kitchen since she was far too distracted to be of much help. After passing her a beer she told her to relax, not that she thought she would for a second. Franky took the offered beer from Allie and went to join a Bea while Allie poured Bridget a glass of wine, taking a seat in the kitchen Bridget thought it was best to leave Bea and Franky by themselves.

“Doesn't seem to get any easier for them does it?” Bridget asked as she took a sip of her wine.

Allie shook her head as she looked out of the window, “Doesn't get easier for us either.”

“We both know their going to get way too involved in this the longer she's out there and there's nothing we can do.”

“You're wrong…we do what we've always done, we support them, hold them when their falling apart and listen to them when they need to talk, it's hard for them but it's harder for us, we pick up all their broken pieces and put them back together at the end of every day.”

Bridget sighed. “You're right of course, maybe I didn't quite see it like that, I feel so helpless when I don't know what they have to do, and it was harder for you than Bea the last time…I shouldn't bring that up, I'm sorry Allie.”

“It's fine, it was hard, it was hard for everyone involved.”

Another knock on the door caught Allies attention and she went to open it finding David, Boomer and Liz there. David and Liz joined Franky and Bea outside and Boomer sat next to Bridget. Allie passed her a beer and smiled, she had no idea what this felt like and she hoped she'd never have to find out but here they were.

“So like we just sit here yeah? We let them just talk right blondie?”

“I guess we do Booms, I guess we do.”

“Ok…ya fink they have a plan yeah? I mean Bea and Franky….their bad ass yeah?”

“Never known them not to have a plan yet Boomer.” Bridget smiled because that was what they always did, argued and planned then argued some more and at the end of the day they would crawl into bed just needing to be held, Bridget and Allie both knew that, lived through it with them and this was Boomers first real taste of how hard it could be. She'd spent years around Bea and Franky, witnessed some of what they did, even helped out a little from time to time but she'd never witnessed the aftermath.

Boomer wanted to help so she laid the table in the dining room, she felt useless and really wanted to talk to Allie, she liked Bridget but she felt more at ease with Allie, and Allie had been through more of this shit than Bridget had, Bea was always the one to get herself in trouble and Boomer needed to talk before she exploded. Allie walked into the dining room, if there was one thing Allie could spot it was when Boomer was worried.

“Talk to me Booms.”

“I feel stupid yeah, I mean like I don't know what I'm gonna do, don't know what I'm meant to do yeah? How do you….”

“Deal with what they do, what Bea promised she wouldn't do anymore? I'm not gonna lie to you Booms it's hard, sometimes I've felt like I should just leave so I don't have to watch anymore but I can't, you can't walk away when you love someone just because you don't agree with something they are doing. You worry, you don't want to leave their side, but Booms you have to promise me you won't lose your temper, no threats to punch anyone's tits in ok? That won't help.”

“Yeah….so listen? I can do that. Does Bea tell ya everyfink?”

“No….I wouldn't want her to, trust me I'm sure you wouldn't want to know everything.”

“I can talk to ya right? If I get scared? When I'm worried?”

“Always Booms, now shall we go and tell that lot that dinners ready?”

“Oh yeah, right, smells good blondie, I'm starvin.” Boomer grinned all evidence of worry eradicated from her face.

Dinner went well, Bea and Franky kept the conversation light they had spent almost an hour sitting outside talking about what was going on and both knew that no one wanted to hear anymore about it, Bea didn't even want to think about but it kept creeping in and Allie picked up on it straight away, running her bare foot up the inside of her leg got her attention pretty quickly. Bea mouthed a ‘sorry’ to her each time it happened and Allie had just smiled. She would do just about anything to keep her mind off what was happening, they had no control over what was going to happen, Joan could do anything they all knew that and they all knew she blamed Bea and Franky just as much as she blamed Derek Channing. Bea had still insisted that she wasn't going to go over to the office unless it was really necessary, she didn't plan on spending a lot of time there, for once the police had taken the threat seriously and were doing all they could to protect Debbie and even though Bea was still worried she didn't want to force her into going home. They had spoken earlier in the day and Bea had been happier when she'd heard the security on campus had been increased and the police were rather evident in their presence, at least to Debbie they were, she'd spot plain clothed police from a mile away now.

———————————————

“What the hell is taking so long? I payed you to do this job right.” Joan screamed down the phone.

“It's done, do you know how hard it is to find someone that could possibly double for you?”

Michael Spitz was not happy, he'd needed to make a quick buck and Roz had pointed him in the direction of Joan, it had sounded like good money for little work but her last request had turned his stomach, he'd searched the streets of Melbourne looking for someone who would fit exactly what she wanted, now he knew if this went wrong he would be in more trouble than ever, he couldn't find what she wanted in Melbourne and had gone further afield, now he had what she wanted but didn't quite understand why she needed someone the the same height and weight as her, all he knew was that it had to be a woman and she had to be alive.

“You have what I need, you have the address where you need to take her, I'll be there within the hour….oh and do not under any circumstance let anyone see you.”

“I won't, but I want my money, in cash.”

“If I'm happy with what you have for me I will give you what I promised in cash later, now do as I say and do not question or demand anything from me or I assure you you will be sorry.” Joan replied in her usual even yet menacing tone.

Michael heard the line go dead and sighed, he should have walked away he knew that but he needed the money, his family needed the money, what choice did he have?

Joan walked to the end of the tunnel, she agreed that too many people being around at the same time would raise suspicion if they were seen, as soon as she got to the road the car was there and she jumped in.

“You know where to go.” She spat.

Roz said nothing, Joan was in a bad mood but that was nothing new, was it a bad mood or was it just how she really was all the time? They didn't speak the whole time they were in the car together but Joan was muttering under her breath, nothing that could be made out clearly so Roz just tried to block her out. They were being followed until they were a mile away from her old house, the officers that were meant to take over the tail had made a mistake and were in the wrong street and by the time anyone became aware of the situation they were gone into the night and everyone could only guess where they might have gone.

Pulling in behind another car Joan cautiously looked around.

“Get out and check.” She ordered. “Take the keys, check inside.”

Roz knew she was in no position to argue, she got out of the car and approached the back of the house, she had to get in and out unseen. Unlocking the door she walked in, it was so dark inside and she had to give her eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness. ‘Check inside, who the fuck does she think is going to be in here?’ She said to herself. She looked around quickly, being in her house made her even more uneasy than she had been before and all she wanted to do was get out of there, she had no idea why she even wanted or needed to be come back here, the police must have checked it out already, they might even have someone watching the house. Looking out into the street in front of the house she couldn't be sure if all the cars that were parked there belonged to the neighbouring houses or not and honestly she didn't care.

“It's all clear.” She said in a low voice as she got back in the car.

“It had better be Jago.” She opened the passenger door and turned back for a second or two. “When I'm inside wait for ten minutes then help Spitz.” She quickly got out and disappeared into the house.

‘Help Michael?’ Her mind was racing. ‘Help him do what?’ She was sure she didn't want to know the answer but she would find out soon enough. Getting out of the car she approached the car parked in front of hers noticing another person was laying on the back seat.

“What the fuck Michael, who the hell is that?” She hissed.

“Ya don't wanna know, let's just get this done and get outta here.”

“Get what done, is she dead? If she is I ain't havin any part of it.”

“Calm the fuck down, she’s drugged, should be out for a couple more hours but somethin tells me she ain't gonna live that long.”

“The fuck, what's she gonna do?”

“No idea, I was told not to ask questions and I ain't gonna, ya better do the same if ya wanna get outta this alive.”

Neither of them wanted to hurt anyone, but they weren't going to be the ones hurting anyone, not really, that was what they had to tell themselves as they carried the unconscious woman into the house, Joan was nowhere to be seen but they heard her.

“Leave her on the floor and get out.” She called out from somewhere on the upper floor, they did as they were told and went back to their cars.

Joan emptied the concealed safe that was in the house of everything it contained, the police were fools, as she expected they hadn't found it and it was hidden in plain sight. Putting everything in a bag she left the house and went to the garage finding everything she needed before going back to the house and looking at the woman laying in the middle of the floor of the huge open plan room. Leaving the house for a short time she went to Michaels car, tapping on the window he wound it down.

“Your payment, it's all there no need to count it right now and make sure you are available, I may need you again.” She said in a hushed tone as he reached for the offered envelope. “Get out of here and don't be seen.”

Michael didn't need to be told twice as she stood back and watched him drive away before she returned to the house.

“This won't do, it won't do at all.” She muttered. “I'm in control, I decide who lives or dies.” She muttered a little louder as she dragged the unconscious woman's body closer to the front door. “They will find you here and believe, believe I lost my life and I will be free to carry on, so many lives to put an end to the way they tried to put an end to mine.”

Leaving the woman's body in the position she imagined would work she poured petrol over and around her and through the ground floor of the house throwing the empty can back inside as she walked out. Striking a match that to was thrown in and she watched as the flames took a direct path to where the woman was laying, “Joan Ferguson is dead!” She said as she closed the door and locked it, absentmindedly throwing the now useless keys in a bush making her way back to the car.

“Take me home now.” She commanded and Roz Jago complied as the house burned.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know another cliffhanger, and as much as I hate to leave it there I had to or write something that resembled a 10,000 word essay!


	135. Chapter 135

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I'm posting this chapter early and I do have a reason believe it or not. Today it is exactly one year since I posted the first chapter of this story, I never intended to still be writing it a year later, never once did I think it would be as long as it is, and I never honestly believed that I would be writing two stories at the same time with a third maybe on the way!!!
> 
> Sorry but the drama continues.

Franky sat bolt upright in bed, the strangest dream had woken her, was it a dream or a nightmare? She was sure it was more of the latter when she remembered coming face to face with the freak. She looked to her side and watched Bridget sleeping, ‘At least one of us won't be tired in the morning,’ she thought to herself preparing to get comfortable again when her phone started ringing. She tried to grab it quickly before the sound woke Bridget but she was a little too late for that.

“What is it? What's wrong?” Bridget mumbled.

“Give me a sec Gidge and I'll tell ya.”

Franky sat almost stunned when she heard that Joan Ferguson’s house was well alight.

“The fuck Red? How the hell do ya even know this? And have ya seen the fuckin time it's the middle of the night!”

“I know what time it is Franky, and I know because I was woken up by a phone call.”

“Yeah, so who called ya?”

“I don't know, it came from an unknown number and no before you ask I didn't recognise the voice.”

“So how do you know it's not a lie?”

“I know because I'm stood here with Allie watching them put the fire out…Franky hold on.”

Bea turned back to the house when Allie pulled gently on her arm, “I heard them say there's a body.” Allie said just slightly above a whisper.

“Franky I have to go, I'll see you later, I'm sorry I woke you up.”

Franky was just about to tell her that she hadn't when the line went dead, dropping her phone on the bed she looked at Bridget, “Well?” She asked impatiently. “Oh yeah, that was Red, the freaks house is on fire, I need to go Gidge, I'm so sorry but I have to.”

Bridget sighed and sank back down into the mattress, it was nights like this when she sometimes wished that Franky would find another form of employment, it wasn't being woken up that bothered her it was not knowing, she was going to leave the house in the middle of the night and go god only knew where. “Wait Franky, I'm coming with you.” Bridget said as she jumped up.

“Gidge, you don't have to.”

It was too late to even protest by the time Franky was still only half dressed Bridget was ready and waiting for her.

By the time Franky arrived the fire was out and Bea was having a heated discussion with detective Ayoub.

“A body means fuck all until it's properly identified.”

The detective was getting frustrated with Bea, who else could it be, it was Joan's house the body was near the door which was presumably locked, not that there was much of the door left. It looked right, not that a charred body gave away any of its secrets on first glance she knew that.

“There's no reason for you to be here, go home Bea, I'll let you know of any developments.”

“Yeah sure you will, like every time before, you let us know when it's too late.” Bea huffed, she was sick of the sight of this detective, sure she did her job but not fast enough for Beas liking, red tape and procedure always slowed everything down to a crawl.

“Red…there's a body? Fuck are they blind? This was deliberate just take a look at it.”

“I know, but they have to do it by the book, they do, we don't. I need to find out who called me, has to be someone working for Ferguson, someone who's got cold feet.”

“Makes sense but how we gonna find out who it was?”

“I know a guy, I'll have him all over it first thing. How much as Ayoub told you?”

“They have a location, but if they think that's Ferguson they aren't gonna be paying much attention, got a contact on the inside now, want me to get the info?”

Bea looked over to Allie and Bridget who were talking quietly a few feet away from them. “We need to finish this Franky.”

“Yeah…ya want David involved?”

Bea just nodded as she saw a detective walking towards them, they couldn't continue their conversation here. “I'll make some calls when I get home, expect a full house later, you get the location and I'll sort the rest.”

A few minutes later the four of them left, Bea didn't say a word until they walked back into the house and Allie had a bad feeling, she wasn't convinced by anything the detective had told them so she knew there was no way Bea was. She wanted to tell her to stay out of it, to let the police handle everything but that wasn't worth the arguments that would come after she got the words out. Sitting in the kitchen Bea knew there was no way she was getting back to sleep so decided that there was no point in even trying. What she couldn't work out was why burn the house down? Even an amateur could tell by the way the house had been engulfed so quickly that it was deliberately set and the body that was there was used as a decoy, the police would have to do everything that needed to be done though giving Ferguson all the time she needed to do whatever she had planned.

“Talk to me, tell me what you're thinking ya know two heads are always better than one.”

“I know.” Bea forced a small smile. “I just don't want to worry you more than is necessary.”

“Think it's too late for that babe…I hate seeing you like this so please just tell me, maybe I can't help but better out than in yeah.”

“I just don't like it, that fire was deliberate, no way is that body Ferguson…she's got a plan that's for sure, Allie I want you to go away for a few days, I don't want you to be here when the shit hits the fan.”

“NO!….I don't care what she has planned I'm not leaving you, it's not negotiable either, kick me out if you want but I'll sit out there until you give in.”

“You're so bloody stubborn you know that?”

“Yeah, well I've had a great teacher.” Allie giggled as Bea shook her head. “Whatever she thinks she's going to do we'll face it together and I think we make a bloody good team don't you?”

———————————————

Bea had finally fallen asleep on the sofa but Allie couldn't sleep no matter how hard she tried, she was worried and not for herself, she knew that Joan would go after her if she could but it would be Bea and Franky that she went for first and she wasn't planning on leaving her side. At 7am she called Shane first asking him if he could take care of the bar for the foreseeable future, not wanting to ask too many questions he agreed telling her that he would only call if there were any problems that he couldn't take care of but making her promise that if there was anything either of them needed she would let him know. Calling Thomas she was relieved when he also told her to take all the time they needed to sort out what was going on, Thomas didn't know a great deal about the situation and honestly he wasn't all that bothered about asking questions, he was sure that he'd find out soon enough.

Waking up an hour later Bea stretched before looking around the room, the smell of fresh coffee letting her know exactly where she would find Allie.

“Have you slept?” Bea asked as she walked into the kitchen.

“I tried, honestly I did…but I couldn't, how are you feeling?”

“Where do you want me to start?” Bea tried to joke.

“I'm coming with you.”

“What?”

“When you go to the office, and don't try to tell me that's not where you're going, I know you remember.”

Franky was sat with her feet up on her desk talking on the phone when Bea and Allie walked in, looking out of her open office door it wasn't a shock that Allie was tagging along with Bea, she had been pretty sure that if Bridget hadn't have had to go to work that morning she would be sitting in her office with her. Finishing her call she swung her feet down from her desk just as Bea walked in.

“Any news?” Bea quickly asked.

“Just found out where the house is where they thought the freak was hiding out, but the fuckers aren't watching the place closely, seems that body has them convinced that she's dead. You'd think they'd at least wait for a positive ID before they backed off, dug up the plans for that house and it's interesting to say the lest…hey ya get anywhere findin out who called ya?”

Bea had forgotten about that, she was exhausted, all she knew was that the caller was definitely male and that wasn't much to go on. Excusing herself from Franky's office she went outside and placed a call, she wasn't hopeful, but if she could find out who the call was from maybe they could get some answers.

As Bea walked back inside Franky dashed out of her office.

“Might not get ya caller but I just heard who's workin with her, ya ever heard of Roz Jago?” She knew it was doubtful because she'd never heard the name herself but Bea was generally full of surprises.

Bea thought for a few minutes but there were no alarm bells ringing, that was one name she'd never heard of. “Doesn't mean anything to me, maybe Colin might know."

Calling Colin wasn't getting them anywhere, for an hour the calls went straight to voicemail leaving them both to wonder if he'd been arrested again, he always got in to hot water at the worst possible time. By lunch time they had given up hope until Beas phone began ringing. Answering the call from a very apologetic Colin, he asked to meet them both an old buddy had turned up at his place in the early hours of the morning telling him something about a woman and if he got caught he would go away for a long time but at the time he'd not made a great deal of sense.

“I trust ya Bea…no cops right, if he sees a hint of a uniform he'll run an shit I'm sure it'll be worse for him.”

“I don't work like that and you know that Colin, no cops just me a Franky.”

Lunch with Colin and his friend who they now knew as Michael was interesting, after telling Bea that it was in fact him that had called her he'd told them the whole story, from what he knew, about the house fire and the body that had been found. Joan may have told Michael to leave and presumed that he had when she watched him drive away but he hadn't gone far and kept a eye on what was happening. He was no lag but he knew that if and when he got caught it was only a matter of time before he took the wrap for the fire. He hated what he'd done but Joan had threatened the lives of his family and as Bea knew too well you do anything you can to protect them.

“I know I'll get sent down, I loath myself…should have figured it out before it was too late.”

Michael told them everything he could, he knew the location of Joan's hideout, told them everything about the security and about the tunnel and cellar before offering to take them there. He knew more than Joan thought since he'd helped Roz get the place fixed up. Bea knew that the second Allie heard about this she wouldn't lat her out of her sight but it had to end, if they waited for the detective to get conformation that the body wasn't Joan it could be too late and one or both of them could be dead.

———————————————

“You have what I asked for?” Joan's voice thundered down the phone at Roz.

“I…err…I'm still working on it.” Roz answered nervously.

“You have until the end of the day, and do not mess with me, you really have no idea who you're dealing with….cross me and I will finish you do you hear me?” She roared.

“Yeah…yeah, I have a contact that can get it.” She mumbled into the phone.

“Make sure you do, remember I know where you live, I know everything about you.”

The call disconnected and Roz was left wondering what the hell she had done to get right here, getting what she wanted wasn't a problem but she didn't want to give her a gun. Joan couldn't be trusted and after what she'd done the previous night there was nothing stopping her turning the gun she handed over on her as soon as it was in her hands. “Blanks!” She suddenly said to herself knowing exactly who she could go to to get everything she needed, she may hand over what she requested but there was no way she was giving her the power to do any more real damage, it might be tricky explaining why she hadn't give her more ammo but she'd cross that bridge when she came to it and hope that Joan didn't know the difference between a blank round and a real bullet.

Bea, Franky and David had been sat behind Franky's closed office door for a couple of hours, Allie didn't want to know what they were intending to do, their plans, even the less dangerous ones, were never something that she wanted to hear about so she sat with Liz chatting quite happily. They knew how dangerous Joan was and neither of them spoke about it, Allie honestly wasn't even sure why she thought sitting in the office all day was the greatest idea all she knew was that she needed to be wherever Bea was even though she couldn't help.

“So that's the plan, ya sure we can pull this off Red, I'm not as good as you at sneaking around.”

“I'm not happy either, if you can think of a better plan be my guest as long as we can pull it off by tomorrow night.”

“If I thought I could think of anythin better trust me I'd tell ya.”

Detective Ayoub was more frustrated with this case than she'd ever been with any other, she knew there was always the possibility that the body wasn't Joan Ferguson but the assumption was that it had to be. After hours of trying to find any family she may have she gave in, if she did have any living relatives they certainly didn't want to be found so there was no one to ask if they knew who her dentist was, she'd checked with the prison weather Joan had had any dental treatment while she had been there and that came to a dead end so she figured that there was no way they would identify the body through dental records anytime soon.

The extent of damage to the body made any positive identification very problematic making her rethink her previous assumption that it would definitely be Joan. Usually she knew that when a body was discovered in a house fire it would normally have been found far from the point of ignition unless of course the person was so intoxicated that they had passed out or were already dead. The two ends of the spectrum were something she had never experienced before, the last fire related death she had dealt with the person had been in an upstairs room and had died from smoke inhalation and was identifiable at first glance but whoever this was had been close to the origin of the fire and was burnt beyond recognition. They couldn't use fingerprints, it looked like dental records were going to be out of the question at least until they could track down her dentist, but they had X-rayed the body in the hope that they could track down her medical records and that was proving difficult since there seemed to have been no trace of Joan since she was in her 20s. And DNA was probably out of the question, there may not be enough genetic material left for them to test, they had her DNA on her police record since it was now standard practice to take a DNA swab after arrest.

Roz collected the gun she had promised to get for Joan, she hated guns after seeing the damage that they could inflict and just holding it in her hands made her cringe, she was quite certain that she knew who Joan was intending to use it on and she didn't want to be any part of it. Swapping the bullets for blanks she knew that was no guarantee that someone wouldn't get hurt and she'd had to call in a big favour to get her hands on them. All she could do now was hope that Joan wasn't actually clued up enough when it came to ammunition or that she didn't look too closely.

Joan paced the cellar floor, Jago was becoming a nuisance she was just like the rest of the pathetic excuses for human beings she had associated herself with for so long, every single one of them were like ants flowing across the concrete like an oil spill from an old car marching orderly along to the beat that someone like her called, they were all so insignificant, had mush for brains yet they still accomplished every task she ordered them to do. This day felt as though it was stretching out before her like a road into the horizon but it was one that she wasn't going to walk down just yet, her plan was not yet complete. She wished she could fast forward time, arrive at Monday night with everything in place slip through the crowded bar completely unnoticed and lay in wait. It was a simple plan so simple she didn't know why it had taken her so long to think of it. She'd ran through so many scenarios while she was sitting in her cell and none but this one seemed like it could work, she had become infuriated with herself when she realised that every plan was doomed to fail, she did not fail and wasn't going to she would rather die than fail.

Roz approached the entrance to the cellar trying hard to keep her hands from shaking, she had made her mind up that this was the last time she was going to the house, with any luck she could get far away and Joan wouldn't find her. Joan predictably was standing in front of her wall of pictures.

“She's mine you know, she'll be all mine to do with as I please.” Joan audibly took a deep breath in through her nose. “They won't stop me, I will have my revenge…and you Jago what will you do when this is complete? Go back to your life of petty crime? Move out of state and try to turn your life around? No…no you won't do that will you, its who you are, you know no better do you? I will finish this and move on, start over without the idiot who landed me behind bars while he rots away descending further into madness.”

Roz swallowed hard, why did that sound like so threatening she wondered, was her plan to get rid of her before she moved on?

“I got what you asked for…sorry it took so long.” She paused for a few seconds to try and swallow down her nerves. “I could have had one sooner but as you are paying me so well I knew I could only bring you the best.”

She placed the bag down on the desk that contained the gun and box of blanks. “It's already loaded.” She backed away wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.

“I trust you Jago, why do you seem so nervous?” Joan's tone might have told someone else that she was concerned for them but Roz knew better.

“I just don't like guns.” She admitted.

“Then you should go.” Joan looked back over her shoulder at her. “Make sure to be available in case I need anything else…and it appears Spitz has his phone turned off…find him!”

“Yes, yes…of course, first thing in the morning, I need to get going…anything else?”

“That'll be all…for now.”

Joan watched her leave quietly before turning back to the wall, ‘Idiot…Jago must go she's too dazzled by greed to see what's really going on, doesn't seen daylight never mind the bigger picture.’ She said to herself before walking to the desk to check the gun was all Jago had said. In truth she had never held a gun in her life let alone seen a bullet up close so the switch for blanks made no difference at all.

———————————————

Allie was sure there was so much more going on than Bea was telling her when she crawled into bed beside her, she'd been quieter than normal all evening having said that she was just tired she didn't bring it up again knowing that before long she would know what was going on, all she could do was hope that it wasn't anything that would get her hurt.

“You come here often?” Allie giggled trying to lighten the mood as she snuggled into Beas side.

“You're an idiot.” Bea grinned at her corny use of an old pick up line she'd heard said so many times at the bar.

She pulled Allie closer, she was fresh from the shower and so warm and with one kiss Beas mood turned from ambivalence to enthusiasm, she was on the only person on earth for her, the only one who could breath fire into her. From that moment on what she was wearing was nothing more than a hinderance but one Allie solved in under a minute. Allie lit her up from the inside, touching her was like being handed the holy grail, like her heart had finally been mended after being broken for so long.

Around an hour after Allie had fallen asleep in her arms Bea carefully managed to untangle herself from her, laying on her back for a few more minutes hoping she hadn't woken her up. Glancing at the clock it was almost 3am and she climbed out of bed, she didn't want to leave her here alone but what other choice did she have? This had to end, one way or another this had to end as risky as it was keeping Allie and Debbie safe was the only thing she cared about. Slipping on the clothes that she had left out before getting into bed she sat on the edge of the bed watching Allie sleep.

“I love you, no matter what happens I always will.” Bea whispered as she placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

Slipping out of the bedroom quietly she made her way downstairs in the darkness, grabbing a quick coffee she suddenly felt unsure. The night air was cool as she stepped out of the house to wait for Franky looking up at the sky all she could really do was hope that by the time the sun was up this would all be over.

“Ya sure ya wanna do this?” Franky asked the second Bea got in the car.

“As sure as I'm ever going to be…we have to finish what we started Franky, have we ever left a case unfinished?”

“Na, but this should have been over a long time ago.”

“It should never have been ours to deal with in the first place, should have told Channing thanks but no thanks then we wouldn't be doing this.”

David and Richard sat nervously in the back seat, Bea had said that it should just be the three of them but Richard would hear none of it and insisted on helping. As they drove off into the night to face Joan for what they hoped would be one last time none of them knew what to expect when they finally reached their destination and thinking about the possible outcomes were not helpful. It would end one way or another that night, the four of them were certain of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No more cliffhangers after this chapter you have my word, well at least none quite so dramatic!
> 
> I just want to say a big thank you to all of you who have continued to follow this story, through the good and the bad. It's been a year full of ups and downs, twists and turns and sometimes I've found myself in a place that I thought I had no escape from, so to all of you who do read the notes, and I hope that's all of you, I just want to say this....
> 
> Too often we think that the world is against us, actually you're just against yourself. When your confidence hits zero you can be left hovering above breaking point and you feel like you could shatter. The slightest negative comment or reaction can leave you wishing you had a button that you could press so you could vanish into thin air. And it's the easiest thing in the world to become withdrawn and find yourself living in fear of everything and everyone. When it happens I know how hard it is to take back control, to hijack that thought pattern that holds you back. Remind yourselves of this, 'FEAR' only stands for 'False Evidence Appearing Real.' It's just a trick that your brain likes to play on you because things can be scary.
> 
> Try to embrace scary, move out of your comfort zone, invest in yourself not other people, try and work on being the best you can be for you because you are all that matters. Have the attitude that successful people have don't worry about what other people think or do, give it a shot. It's your journey no one else's, no one else's opinion should hold you back and more importantly never hold yourself back, we only get one life so make the most of it because when you do you'll find you become unstoppable.
> 
> And with that said I better get back to writing the next chapter...wish me luck!


	136. Chapter 136

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually amazed myself when I wrote this chapter, partly because it didn't take long to write and partly because it flowed so well it almost didn't need me to write it!  
> Enjoy.

Franky pulled over half a mile from the wooded area that they had to make their way through to arrive at the entrance to the tunnel, “Ya really sure about this Red?”

“No but what choice do we have? If you don't want to come you can stay here.”

“No fucking way, nope, not happening not lettin ya go in there alone.”

“Hey what am I chopped fucking liver?” David asked from the back seat.

“Fuck off, ya know what I mean, but none of us know what's gonna happen in there, don't even know if she's in there.”

Bea knew this was the most stupid thing to be doing, going in there unarmed and without any backup wasn't the best plan she'd ever had and they just didn't have a clue where the freak would be. They'd studied the plans and knew the layout of the house. Colin and Michael were due to arrive any minute on the other side of the house to keep watch and Richard was meeting them as soon as they all got out of the car.

“Ya sure we should trust that Spitz guy?” Richard asked.

Neither Bea or Franky could really answer that question, all they knew was that he seemed more scared of Joan than they were, it could be an act, a plan concocted by Joan to get them there but they couldn't say that it was and all Bea knew was that she had to end this one way or another. Checking the time on her phone she wanted to call Allie to hear the sound of her voice, if this went wrong it could be the last chance she ever got but she wasn't going to wake her up in the middle of the night, she wanted her to rest and not worry about what she was doing. She hated not telling her what they had planned to do but she would have tried to talk her out of it, Allie could be very persuasive, and Bea wasn't going to back down on this, the freak needed dealing with one way or another and if the police weren't going to check the place out they were going to do it themselves no matter how dangerous it could be.

Before getting out of the car Bea tied her hair back in a high pony tail, the last thing she needed was her vision being obscured with her hair in her face. Getting out of the car she took a deep breath, the night air was cool and if she'd needed waking up that would have certainly worked. Franky and David stood at each side of her as they watched Richard turn the car around and head off for the front of the house. They walked the half mile up to the wooded area, they'd worked out that they were going to have to walk for just over a mile until they got to the entrance of the old tunnel and it would be a little tricky to navigate in the dark but they didn't want to be seen by anyone so using torches had been ruled out straight away.

It seemed they had all underestimated the blackness that now surrounded them as they slowly made their way through the trees, in Beas mind the trees would have been black trunks set against a charcoal sky, there would be a pathway and the moonlight would light their way a little, because honestly wasn't every painting you ever saw of woods at night like that? Tonight however there was no moonlight to give them the slightest hint of light but they had come too far to turn back now, they had to carry on even though the blackness surrounding them must have been comparable to being inside a coffin buried six feet underground. Bea breathed in the cool air more rapidly than before as the darkness pressed against her from all sides, her heart screamed at her to run but her brain dismissed the idea in an instant. The sounds of the rustling bushes created by the slight breeze that swirled around them were the only other sounds to be heard apart from their footsteps, soft thuds on the earth with the occasional snap of a twig. Franky stayed close to Bea and David hung slightly behind, they didn't know what could be laid out in the dark all they knew was that they had to get to the tunnel they knew was there.

“Shit Red what the hell were we thinking?” Franky asked barely above a whisper.

“We were thinking that we have to finish this before she can do anymore damage, if you want to turn back then do it now.”

“Na, wherever ya go I'm right with ya, fuck, blondie would fuckin kill me if I left ya alone and somethin happened.”

“Wouldn't be alone Franky, I doubt David would stop now.”

“No I wouldn't.” David chipped in, “I'm all in, so stop bitching Franky and keep walking.”

Franky frowned knowing that it was almost impossible for either of them to see her expression as they finally reached the entrance to the tunnel. As soon as the entered the air around them felt several degrees cooler and they all shivered. It was even darker inside and Bea decided that the only way they were getting through without having an accident was to use their phones to light their way. They walked slowly and stopped often listening for any sounds of life in the distance but there were none. If they were at home this level of silence would be considered tranquil but in that tunnel it was more like the silence of a graveyard on Halloween night. David had experienced real darkness before during a couple of deployments before he left the army, but this level of darkness made the memory of that seem like an old fashioned photograph that held every shade of grey possible. This darkness here was enough to rob him of his senses and leave him with a paralysing fear.

Even with the light from their phones they were all sure that they only knew their eyes were still there because they could feel themselves blink, the only sounds were their footsteps and they all guessed that that fact should bring their heart rates down well below the level of a rabbit that had been caught in a snare but it didn't. Once they got used to the light they looked more closely at their surroundings, the tunnel looked like it must have been abandoned for a great number of years, maybe it had been forgotten about or just left to become a drug den or a place for the homeless to shelter in, that last thought sat uneasily in Beas chest when she thought about Allie maybe spending nights in such an awful place, trying to throw that thought out of her head she knew she was safe and warm at home in bed and hoped that soon she would be back there with her.

The tunnel had been well constructed, it was once a beautiful brick arch but now it was covered in graffiti, the floor was strewn with broken glass, general trash and discarded needles. Only the most desperate would want to be here, no one in their right mind would want to be there but they needed to find the freak and the best way into the house was through that dark, damp place, glancing at each other once more they were now resolute it was now or never and it suddenly felt like the weight of the world rested on each of their shoulders. The light from their phones cast an ominous glow causing shivers to ripple through Beas body. A breeze suddenly streamed through the tunnel scattering ragged pieces of paper around them as every step closer they got echoed around them like a ghostly cry.

Finally reaching the end of the tunnel it didn't take long to find the entrance to the cellar, it was well concealed and most people wouldn't even know that it was there unless they looked closely or actually knew it was there like they did. Stepping inside it felt chilly, mainly due to the natural refrigeration of the earth that lay behind the thick walls. Scattered around the walls were very old candle holders, it must have been a great deal of time since they were last used since there was now not even a trace of any wax residue on them. There was a single light bulb dangling from the ceiling that had been left on illuminating the space, Bea turned to face the wall of photographs and her heart sank, not only were there pictures of the three of them but also of Liz, Allie, Bridget and Debbie. In the seconds it took for her to scan that wall she knew that they were doing the right thing, but they hadn't actually planned any further ahead than getting there now they were stood there looking around none of them knew what they were going to do when and if they finally came face to face with Joan. It had a very claustrophobic atmosphere and even though it smelt damp there was no sign of any water seeping through the walls.

David spotted a door at the other end of the room and walked slowly over to it, opening it slightly he looked up the narrow staircase, another bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling to illuminate the way before he closed it softly again.

“What do we do now?” David asked.

“No idea, I don't want to really go up there do you?” Bea said as she looked around more.

“Na, if she really is here she's got too many places to hide in the house…we need to get her down here, no place to hide.” Franky paused briefly, “So who's going to make a noise? Only way she's gonna come down here is if something disturbs her.”

None of them moved, fear was like shackles, a knife to the gut as it was slowly twisted, a constant hammering in all their heads. Fear evaporated from Bea first, she wasn't going to back out, Franky and David could but she wasn't going to, she was going to march right past her fear because like a ghost in a child's bedroom she knew knew it was nothing more than an illusion.

“Right so who's gonna do it?” David asked knowing all too well that fear was only a precursor to bravery. Fear he knew wakes you up to what you have have to do, it ignites your thoughts and gives you the confidence to do what needs to be done.

Bea glanced around the room once more this time spotting a stack of wooden crates stacked neatly in a corner. “You two use those, knock them over, throw them around I don't care.”

Franky looked at her not sure if they should make that much noise but they needed to get her down there. She saw the flash of fear that sat quietly on Beas face, she knew how she was feeling since her own fear made her stomach contort and she felt like she was being smothered by an invisible hand. As they started knocking over the crates Franky's breathing became erratic, deep and shallow but she fought it, she had no choice, they all needed clear heads for what may come next. With each crate that hit the ground she felt her fear disintegrating and she felt stronger. She'd always had a fear of failure and she wasn't about to let the freak win, she wasn't brave, at least not as brave as she outwardly appeared to be but she wasn't going to let that show.

Bea slowly made her way over to the door and opened it, hearing a few shuffling footsteps getting closer she shouted up the stairs. “Hey freak you up there?….This is what you wanted right?” Listening carefully she heard the footsteps getting closer. “I'm right here, no place to run, not gonna hide from you, may as well come and get me if you can!” She taunted.

Moving from the door Bea started crossing the room when Franky caught her attention.

“Red ya gotta be careful, ya seen the gun just sittin there on the desk or are ya pretendin it's not there?”

“I've seen it, I'll take my chances….”

“Hope you know what the fuck ya doin, that crazy bitch is dangerous.”

Bea crossed half the space before Joan was stood at the door, her laugh sounded cruel, more like a cold cackle that froze the three of them to the spot draining any hope they had that this wouldn't be so hard, that hope was replaced with a feeling of despair, hopelessness and more than anything else fear.

“What do we have here?” Joan spoke as she walked into the cellar closing the door firmly behind her. “Making things easy for me are you? How touching but really there was no need, but if this is how you want it who am I to argue?…I will miss seeing the look on your little whores face as she watches you die Smith but you have given me an opportunity I'd be a fool to turn down.”

Her words cut through Beas entire body and wrapped around her brain, choking the breath from her lungs making her feel like she was dry heaving, how desperately she wanted to be finished with all of this, Joan wouldn't be satisfied with ridding the world of only Bea that was clear now. A thick black mist swirled around the edges of her mind, drawing her further into a darkness of her own creation as she felt the tears building in the corners of her eyes. Joan stepped closer to the desk where the gun was laying, ‘How blinded they are.’ She thought to herself as she scanned the room to look at the three of them, none of them had time to react as she reached for the gun aimed it at Bea and fired, the flash was enough to blind Bea and her body reacted in the same way as if the gun had been placed right to her head. Her muscles were frozen in place but filled with a tingling pressure that made her want to run until she couldn't run anymore, put as much distance between herself and the freak as possible. The gun went off again but all Bea could see were loose forms and blurred colours, she needed the world to comeback into sharp focus before she could do anything. Joan emptied the gun unable to believe that even she could be such a poor shot, Bea Smith was only feet away how could she miss? The thought never entered her head that it wasn't her aim that was the problem, Franky had tried to move but David kept hold of her, after the second shot he already knew that whoever had supplied her with the gun had duped her, but he knew that if Franky got close enough and she fired directly at her she could still be badly hurt or worse still killed, blanks or not they still had the power to kill.

As Bea blinked her surroundings came back into focus and she watched as Joan threw the gun down, opening a draw in the desk and reaching for something. She knew running wasn't the answer but her brain was too fried at that moment to analyse their options. Her heart beat louder and faster than ever before, she had too much energy coursing through her body and she knew it had to go somewhere. Then she saw what was in Joan's hand, the knife looked sharp and dangerous, something told her that Joan wasn't going to stop, even if she took it from her, she would fight for her life in an attempt to end hers. Her eyes fixed on the large steel serrated blade and the black handle that Joan's fingers were tightly wrapped around. Joan was arrogant, in her head she had already triumphed, she smirked, narrowing her eyes and tilting her head a little, it infuriated Bea, nothing was over not yet. ‘Nothing more than a scared little girl.’ Joan thought as she looked at Bea, Franky and David had seemed to have melted into the background all her focus directed on Bea, it gave her pleasure to think that she would end her life with something that was so cheap and mass produced, to see the blood soak through that expensive shirt she was wearing and watch as the light went out in her eyes.

Joan moved and Bea turned slightly to face her even with the threat of the knife in her hand, now was not the time to let any fear show, it was going to end for her right here she was not going to give her the satisfaction of seeing how scared she really was.

“What's it like?…huh…knowing your going to die?” Bea asked as she slightly smirked at her.

“You're being very stupid.” Joan replied, her head tilted to one side and her eyes firmly fixed on Bea.

“Chest tight? Heart pumping in your ears? Fight or flight?…” They watched each other as Bea slowly stepped closer. “This is it freak, this is for every life you've taken or fucked over, all those girls you drugged so they would keep working for you, keep making more money for you?”

Bea stepped closer, her eyes never left Joan's, she was going to put her right where she belonged, if not back behind bars then six feet under, clearing her mind of everything else that was all she concentrated on now putting an end to all this shit that had hovered around them for too long.

“I'm going to finish this.” Bea lunged at her trying to take the knife away from Joan.

Franky tried to move, she wanted to be stood right next to Bea there was no way this was going to be a fair fight she knew that, the freak had a knife and her best friend was defenceless. David grabbed hold of Franky again, “Let me fucking go ya dickhead!” She shouted but David just held on tighter as they both watched them struggle to gain the upper hand.

Bea let go, took a step back and eyed the freak, her arm outstretched, knife still in her hand and they stared at each other. Beas breathing rate increased as the freak just stood there calmly, she believed she had the upper hand and she was going to finish Bea Smith then Doyle and that pathetic excuse for a man who had led the police to her in the first place. Bea grabbed the freaks hand as she trust it forward. A paralysing pain shot through Beas side like an icy liquid metal, the knife tore into her side and she clenched her free hand in a fist as she hesitantly took a step back noticing that her feet were actually trembling. Her legs twitched as she fought the impulse to spin around and run for the tunnel to escape into the shadows when she saw the left side of Joan's lips tug upwards into a sinister smirk.

Moving forward again Bea grabbed for the knife with both hands, wrestling with Joan until she thought she had no more energy left Joan leaned in and whispered in her ear, “You're dead.”

Suddenly it sounded like there were about a hundred people running around overhead, the footsteps getting closer to the top of the stairs and a hurried crashing of feet thundering down the tunnel, Franky was trying to wrestle free of Davids grip no idea what was going on above them. “Get the fuck off,” she screamed.

“You hear that Franky? That's the police, a few more seconds Franky that's all we need trust me.” David spoke as softly as he could trying to reassure her.

Bea wrestled the knife from Joan, the knife met flesh making a satisfying squelch as the tip of the blade sank deep enough into Joan's body to make her scream. The sudden arrival of a dozen or so armed officers did nothing to distract Bea as she twisted the knife as she sank it deeper, tearing Joan's flesh as she rotated the knife further. Without any warning Bea jerked her arm back pulling the knife out before plunging it all the way back in at a different spot, the blade completely disappeared into her body as the handle pushed up against her skin. Joan's cry’s were a brilliant sound, guttural chokes mixed in with agonised roars and small whimpers. Bea smirked as she pulled the knife out of her once more, her face was deathly white as she sank to her knees screaming for help, convulsing and trembling like the rabid animal she was. Blood flowed freely from the two gaping holes in her abdomen.

“I win.” Bea smiled before stumbling backwards and dropping the knife.

The dim smile on Joan's lips died faster than wisps of smoke in the wind as Beas last words to her registered in her head. David let go of Franky and she ran over to Bea wrapping her arms around her before helping her to sit in a chair that was close by.

“Fuck Red, she got ya…ya bleeding.”

“I'm fine Franky it's just a scratch.” She tried to reassure her as detective Ayoub came into view.

As a number of armed officers approached Joan she slumped forward, her lifeless body laying in the middle of the cellar floor. One officer nudged her with his foot and shook his head, they all knew that it was what she deserved. To look at her you would have thought she could have just passed out but there was no mistaking the pool of blood that surrounded her.

“We need the paramedics down here.” Detective Ayoub shouted up the stairs before walking over to Bea and Franky. “This has to be the most stupid stunt you've ever pulled…what the hell were you thinking?”

“I was protecting my family.” Bea bit back, “You wouldn't listen so we took matters into our own hands.”

“It's a good thing we picked Roz Jago up, she told us where she was and the parts of her plan she had managed to work out…Spitz will do time but on a lesser charge for his cooperation if that means anything to you, he obviously helped here.”

Detective Ayoub turned to the body, she would have gladly shot her herself if she had come face to face with her, this was a mess but Bea and Franky had done so much to help her out in the past she'd already worked out their cover story as soon as Richard had called to let her know that they were headed in. He'd not been convinced by their plan and really feared that they would all end up dead after talking to Spitz for five minutes alone, the guy was petrified of Joan Ferguson, that fact alone had led Richard to his decision and he'd called detective Ayoub.

Bea was ushered into a waiting ambulance, she was lucky that the knife had only pierced her flesh and would only need stitches, she knew she was going to be in trouble when she saw Allie and she'd already resigned herself to sleeping in the spare room because no matter what in her eyes the whole night was a success. Franky followed her into the ambulance as David asked if they needed anything.

“Call Allie and Gidge.” Franky called out as they were closing the doors.

“You think that's wise Franky, you know we're both going to be in the dog house…probably for the rest of our lives.” Bea tried to laugh but the pain in her side soon stopped her.

“Guess that's just the chance we'll have to take ain't it?”

Bea didn't respond, she was exhausted, Joan was even stronger than she looked and for a few minutes she couldn't wrap her head around what had just happened, she had killed Joan, she had to live with that, but it was either her or them.

“You're a fuckin legend Red ya know that?” Franky grinned, “A first class fuckin legend.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good ending for the freak? We all know I rarely ever uses actual quotes from Wentworth but I figured it needed to be done, if season four had ended this way I would have been actually jumping for joy!


	137. Chapter 137

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggled to get this written but I finally finished it late last night, so after about three hours sleep here it is...apologies in advance for any mistakes you find along the way, I have read it through I promise!

The house was swarming with police as Joan's body was removed a few hours later, no one was going to be sorry to see the back of her, she was evil everyone knew that but surly she couldn't have always been that way. Looking into her background had proved to be more difficult than anything and detective Ayoub had someone trying to trace any living relatives she may have but were still coming up empty, her parents were both dead, her mother it seemed had died in suspicious circumstances and her father by all accounts was a domineering ex military man who ruled his house with an iron fist. Extensive enquiries had uncovered something of Joan's past like the fact that as a young child she took great pleasure in beating up the kids who lived near her for no reason other than she enjoyed inflicting pain and suffering, even then she was well versed in denying the facts and convincing people that it hadn't been her that had done anything wrong. Some people are born good and stay that way because they fight off the bad. Some people are born bad and turn themselves into good people through their own considerable efforts. Some people are born good and let themselves descend into the darkness of being bad, then there are people like Joan Ferguson, she was truly born bad, born into a darkness that never let the light in, bad to the bone some might say. Most people don't believe that a person can be born bad, detective Ayoub disagreed, she'd seen good people turn bad, she'd also encountered truly evil people and found it hard to believe that anyone would make a choice of either being an angel or a demon.

From what little they had uncovered it should have been obvious from the start what Joan was, a demon, with the ability to get away with anything she chose. Maybe as she'd aged she'd come to realise that her life would always be one of anger, pain and hatred, of total darkness and she'd embraced it. Her father had been domineering, pushed Joan to do better but she had twisted what he'd taught her, she'd never really been taught what love and kindness were maybe the only kind of smile she'd ever known was one of malice and cruel intent. Her father tried to train her to be the perfect daughter, or at least what he considered to be the perfect daughter, she had just been trained to be the perfect killer, she could and would take any life she chose.

An extensive search of the computer showed Joan's plan in all its stupidity, how she'd ever intended to get away with it was beyond anyone's reasoning, she hadn't tried to hide it though since she'd never thought she would get caught before that house too was destroyed along with its contents. It was clear the gun was never intended as part of her plan for Bea or Allie, that part of her plan to rid herself of the people who she perceived had done her wrong was meticulous in its planning, she would walk into the bar on Monday night when the place was packed, hide herself out of sight and wait for the rest of the staff to leave. Bea and Allie were always the last to leave so when they were alone she would strike, watch them suffer, she wanted them to see each other suffer. In the end she had underestimated Bea and Franky.

———————————————

Allie burst into the hospital a couple of minutes after Bridget and Liz had arrived, David had told her that Bea was going to be alright but everything told her that it was a lie, the images of seeing her the last time in hospital were still very fresh in her mind and it wouldn't have mattered what anyone told her she was always going to believe the worst. And as scared as she was she was angry at how stupid Bea could have been, she knew how dangerous Joan was and she'd still gone after her. Spotting Franky straight away she made a beeline for her.

“What the fuck were you both thinking?” Allie spat, the tears in her eyes very evident.

“Hey, nice to see you to blondie.”

“Cut the crap Doyle I'm not in the mood, answer the fucking question. Don't you see how stupid this little plan you cooked up together was?”

Franky had been expecting Allie to blow up, she knew what they had done was stupid, and she'd questioned it herself when Bea had first come up with it but had gone along with it even though she had been full of doubt and now she found she had no answers for Allie or for anyone else. Liz got up from her seat and walked over to Allie putting her arm round her.

“Come on love, you're upset, let's take a little walk, get a coffee.”

No matter what the situation Liz could always calm things down, her soothing voice was generally all it took and right now with Allie was no exception and she followed her out into a corridor.

“I can't lose her Liz, not now, things just started getting back to normal and then all this…I can't even stand to think about losing her.” Tears streamed down Allies face as Liz wrapped her up in a hug.

“Shhhh, it's not as bad as it seems…you're not going to lose her, she's like a cat, think her and Franky both are, they've got nine lives I'm telling you, they must have, trust me they've been through way worse than this in the past and lived to tell, now let me get you a coffee.”

Sitting around waiting was doing nothing to calm Allies fears, being told even by one of the nurses that basically it was just a flesh wound and just needed stitches did nothing to calm her down. The whole time Liz kept talking to her all she could do was worry. Why was it always Bea that got hurt, Franky never put herself in as much danger as Bea always seemed to do and that was the thing that Allie would never truly understand.

When a door suddenly swung open and a nurse walked through closely followed by Bea a sense of relief washed over Allie for a few seconds, seeing the dried blood on her shirt made her feel sick but was quickly replaced by anger, she didn't want to be angry, Liz had given her every reason why she did what she did and she thought that she was over it but seeing her walk through that door her shoulders hunched over, eyes fixed on the floor it all bubbled back to the surface. Bea lifted her head and scanned the waiting area finding Allie almost straight away, her footsteps as she approached her were light and timid, she watched her through skittish wide eyes trying to think of what she was going to say, sorry wasn't enough, she was sorry for not telling Allie what they had planned to do, she was sorry for leaving her alone not knowing if she would ever go home again, but she wasn't sorry for trying to protect the people she loved, she wasn't sorry that Joan was dead.

“Allie I…” Allie cut her off.

“Don't…I don't want excuses or apologies I just want to go…we'll talk about this when we get home.”

Liz drove them home, Allie had called a taxi to get there knowing that she was in no state to drive, Franky had offered to take them home but Allie had said no, she was mad at Franky for going along with Beas plan.

As soon as they walked into the house Allie couldn't keep her emotions to herself any longer.

“How could you have been so fucking stupid Bea? When you came up with this plan did you stop to consider anyone but yourself? Course not because you always have to be the fucking superhero don't ya? And Doyle just went along with ya because that's what she does, did you think for a second how Franky would have felt if something worse than that had have happened to you?” Allie pointed at her blood stained shirt. “Did you think about Debbie for a single second, you're her mum and she still needs you, she'll always need you. And I know you didn't give me a second thought…I love you, without you what would I do? But you don't care about any of that do you? Nothing is as important to you as going after something that we all know could have got you killed.” Allie almost screamed at her as tears streamed down her face, the first thing she knew about any of it was when she was woken up by a call from David finding herself in an empty bed she'd known before she'd even answered where they'd gone and she was petrified the second she heard his voice that he was going to tell her the worst.

“Allie…I…I'm sorry…I didn't mean….”

“Don't, just don't.” Allie warned. “I'm going back to bed, I don't want to be around you right now.”

“But, Allie let me…”

“Save it Bea, I don't want to hear your excuses…and don't even think about following me.” Allie stormed out of the room and went back to the bedroom.

It wasn't meant to happen like this, she knew she should have told her, sitting down on the sofa with her head in her hands she couldn't think of anything that was going to put this right. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Allie or make her this upset with her. All she wanted to do was protect her family and she knew as long as Joan was out there they weren't safe, she still had no clue what Joan really had planned for them but seeing that wall of photographs she knew it wasn't anything good. Of course she'd expected her to be angry with her, but to not listen to what she needed to say, a knock on the door brought her quickly out of her thoughts, it was daylight but still very early and she had no idea who it could be. Opening the door she found Franky and Bridget standing there.

“In the dog house again Red?”

“Fuck off Franky, pretty certain Bridget's just as angry with you as Allie is with me.”

“Na, well not quite.” Franky's eyes darted back to Bridget for a few seconds. “So ya gonna let us in or do we have to stand her for the rest of the morning?”

Bea stepped to the side allowing them into the house and closing the door behind them.

“How's Allie?” Bridget asked.

“Can't see her anywhere can you? She gone back to bed and doesn't want to talk to me.”

“Let me talk to her…I know it's been a tough night what harm can it do?”

Of all the people who could offer to help her sort out this mess she'd created Bea hadn't expected Bridget to be the one to offer. Stepping around Bea and Franky she went in search of Allie knocking on the bedroom door.

“Did you talk Bridget into this?” Bea asked as she sat back on the sofa.

“Na…she saw Allies reaction at the hospital and said she thought she could use someone to talk to so here we are…you ok?”

“Fine…bit sore but that's nothing, could have been a whole lot worse couldn't it?” Bea shrugged.

“Yeah, a whole lot worse…so what's a girl to do to get a coffee round here make it herself?”

Allie had sat on the bed, she knew there was no way she would get back to sleep and wasn't even going to try when there was a knock on the door. ‘Why does she never listen?’ Allie thought to herself assuming that it could only be Bea as she got up from the bed. Throwing the door open she was just going to tell her to leave her alone when she came face to face with Bridget.

“Thought you might need someone to talk to, it's been quite a night hasn't it?”

“For us or them? Listen Bridget don't think I don't appreciate you coming to check on me but if you're going to defend what they did then please just save your breath I don't want to hear it ok?” Allie walked back over to the bed and sat down.

“I'm not defending them, I understand why they did what they did and I'm far from happy about it, but they didn't do anything wrong we both know that. It was probably the dumbest thing they've ever done but can you honestly say that if it were you and I in their positions we wouldn't have done something as equally stupid if it meant protecting them, I know I would. I do understand how you feel you know I do, we both struggle with what they've done in the past but I'm sure Bea isn't going to do anything like this again, you knew what she did when you first met her, isn't that who you fell in love with? I know it's not her job anymore but after tonight I think she's going to need you even more, she killed someone Allie and she's got to live with that.”

“I…I didn't mean to push her away…shit I'm such a fucking idiot. I love her so much I just saw what they'd done and didn't stop to think, but it doesn't alter the fact that she could have been killed, Joan wanted her dead…I…I was so scared when David called, I don't think I even heard everything he said, I just can't lose her.” Tears filled Allies eyes, the thought of being without Bea was just too much to take.

Beas day just felt as if it were going from bad to worse, the fight with the freak had left her both physically and mentally drained and now Allie probably wasn't going to speak to her for at least the next week if she didn't decide that enough was enough and leave. Franky had given her a lecture, even she wasn't impressed with what she had done and Franky had seen it all unfold. Now all she could do was tell her how monumentally stupid she had been to take the freak on single handed when she'd gone in there with nothing but her phone in her pocket. Bea couldn't help but wonder what her problem was, that's all any of them had with them, they had never carried a weapon of any sort, it wasn't worth the trouble and certainly wasn't worth having something on them that could be used against them, they had their wits and advanced self defence training, it's all they'd ever needed in the past to get them out of anything sticky. Franky had ripped into her the second she'd place the coffee down on the table in front of her. She had meant to walk away completely but with the freak out there free to do as she pleased she felt she had no other course of action, she wasn't going to need to ever do anything like that again so why did no one even want to hear her side of things, the honest reasons behind her actions she just didn't know. The silence that had descended between her and Franky was deafening as the both stared at the mug sat in front of them, Bridget walking into the kitchen pulled Bea from her thoughts.

“I know she's still angry with me but is she ok?” Bea asked Bridget, her only real concern now was for Allie.

“Not really, did you expect her to be? It's been a hard thing for all of us, more so for you I'll admit. I think I made her see that you did it with the best of intentions…I wasn't lying to her was I Bea? You did what you did for the right reasons and not pure revenge?”

“You know why I did what I did, I had no other choice. I wasn't expecting things to turn out the way they did but I can't change any of that now.”

“Did the three of you even have a plan when you walked in there?”

Neither Bea or Franky could look at Bridget, “Not really.” Bea admitted in a low voice. “When we walked into that cellar and I saw all those photographs, I just knew that she wouldn't stop until she'd killed all of us. When she came at me with that knife the only thing I could think about was Allie, I was so fucking scared it was either her or me. I know I fucked up but none of what happened in there was on Franky, that was all me.”

“Allie doesn't know everything I know that, give her a little more time and she'll calm down, now I think it's time we left you to it you look like you could use some sleep.”

After Franky and Bridget left Bea went to the spare room, passing their bedroom door she stopped for a few moments wanting nothing more than to just go in there and make her listen but she knew that wouldn't achieve anything other than causing another argument. Throwing herself down on the bed in the spare room she knew she wasn't going to sleep as she lay staring at the ceiling. She hated it when Allie was angry at her, the last time she thought she'd lost her for good, and now she'd stuffed up again, why was it every time she tried to do the right thing all she ever did was stuff things up between then.

An hour had passed and Allie was laying on their bed, no matter how angry she was it didn't feel right being there without Bea, she'd heard Bea stop outside their bedroom door and she'd hoped that she'd walk in but then she'd heard her go into the spare room and of course she had because she'd told her to and that was something she was regretting now. Jumping off the bed she went to the spare room, quietly opening the door she half expected her to be fast asleep she knew she'd been awake all night, but she was certain that she wasn't she didn't look relaxed enough to be asleep, no matter what was on her mind she always looked relaxed when she slept. Bea was laying on her side with her back to the door when it opened, she didn't move, didn't want to argue anymore.

“Bea…I know you're not asleep…can we talk?”

“Sure…if that's what you really want.” Bea turned over to face her, she looked exhausted and she knew she'd been crying and that was all down to her, she knew she should have planned things better but there was nothing she could do to change that now.

Allie sat down on the bed next to her, she hated getting angry with Bea, she always felt guilty about arguing with her almost instantly.

“I'm not going to apologise for what I did, if you'd have seen what I saw in that cellar you'd understand, having said that I do owe you an apology for not talking to you, for not letting you know what we were going to do. I knew you'd try and talk me out of it, she wanted us all dead me, Franky, David, Bridget…and…you and Deb.” Bea ran her fingers through her hair, just the thought of anything bad happening to Allie or Debbie hurt more than anything. “I really am sorry for not talking to you but I couldn't take a chance on anything happening to you.”

“That's it? Your sorry for not telling me…”

“I'm sorry you had to find out from David, I wanted to tell you myself but Franky told him to call you.”

“So it's ok for you to wait until I fall asleep then you get up and leave me…you wonder off into god knows what and you could have got yourself killed by that psychotic bitch and all you can say is that you wanted to tell me yourself.” Allie tried to keep her voice calm but every time she thought about what might have happened all she wanted to do was cry again.

“Allie I…I…”

“So who's idea was it for Bridget to come and talk to me?”

“Bridget's, ask Franky I didn't ask her to talk to you.”

“Makes sense I guess…what she said made me think about a few things and even though I'm still angry with you I guess I do sort of understand why you did what you did but did you really think you were going to walk out of there? Didn't you even think for a second that if she wanted to kill you she'd have weapons, and never mind that she was in hiding you must have known she would have ways to defend herself.”

“I wasn't…I wasn't thinking…”

“No you weren't, I could have lost you.”

“I know, I fucked up…all I can say is that I'm sorry…it won't happen again that I can promise, I doubt anyone else is going to try anything when this gets out.”

“How can I be sure of that? Have you got any idea how scared I was when I answered the phone and David told me you were on your way to the hospital? He didn't know how you were he just said you'd been stabbed, I had no idea if you were still alive until I got to the hospital. I used to worry about you every morning you left the house to go to work because I never knew what new case you might get and what it might it involve but I learnt to deal with it because I understood that it was what you did even if it was dangerous…” Allie looked away, she was trying not to cry and really didn't want to.

“I really am so sorry, I didn't think it through properly I knew she was dangerous and I didn't think what could happen because all I wanted to do was keep you safe. When I saw the knife in her hand the only thing I could think about was you, getting back home to be here with you so I did the only thing I could do and I fought her with everything I had just so I could get back back here. This really was the last time I promise, no matter what Franky wants I'm never going back to that life, what we have now…everything we have is too important to me to. I really am so sorry, I never meant to hurt you…again…i keep doing that don't I? I don't seem to not know how to fuck up.”

Bea sat up and wrapped her arms around Allie as she quietly sobbed, Bea felt like the worst person in the world as they lay back on the bed holding each other. Allie stopped crying but she wouldn't let Bea go, couldn't let her go, for the second time she could have lost her and letting her go just wasn't an option because she was certain that if she did she would disappear.

“We should have breakfast.” Bea whispered unsure if Allie was even listening to her anymore when she didn't respond.

“Are you hungry?” Allie asked a minute later.

“Starving.” Bea giggled.

Just over an hour later they were laid in their bed cuddled up together, both needing to sleep but neither wanting to.

“You're not in pain are you?”

“No, it's just a little uncomfortable but I've had worse.”

Pulling the covers back Allie lifted her shirt wincing a little herself when she saw the bruises covering her ribs, she was aware of the stab wound but wasn't expecting that.

“What happened?” She asked before leaning down and gently kissing her ribs.

“We were struggling before she managed to stab me, guess she got a few good jabs in with her elbow or something, honestly I'm not really sure I don't really remember.”

Pulling her up Bea crashed their lips together as she pulled Allie on top of her groaning in pain when Allie lay the full weight of her body against her.

“Shit! I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you.” Allie quickly moved to lay by her side.

“Hey, its fine come back here.”

“Not gonna happen, you're hurt you need time to heal, I don't want to have to take you back to the hospital. I'm not saying I don't want to because I do, I really do but we should get some sleep.”

Bea turned on her side and wrapped her arms around Allie, she knew she was right but it didn't stop the frustration she was feeling right then. She knew it was all her own fault, if she'd have actually thought about what might have happened the night before maybe she wouldn't have rushed in there dragging Franky and David along for the ride, all she'd know was that she had to do something to stop the freak and she had, she'd stopped her for good she couldn't hurt another living person now. Looking across at Allie she had fallen asleep but Bea knew that no matter how tired she was feeling there was no way she was going to sleep, every time she closed her eyes she saw the freaks face, heard her cries how she could live with that she didn't know right then but she knew somehow she had to learn to like she'd had to learn to live with so much before in the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is that really an end to the drama?....Yep something tells me it is.


	138. Chapter 138

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sincerest apologies for taking so long getting this chapter written, I knew where I wanted it to go I just couldn't seem to find the right words and to say I'm still not happy with it is an understatement, but here it is anyway.

A couple of uneventful days had passed, Bridget had called round earlier in the day to ask how Bea was doing, Franky wanted to be there herself but work and the fallout from their little nighttime escapade had left her busier than she had ever been. It was tough without Bea, she was always the backbone of the office and Franky was still struggling without her. Richard was great at what he did and had been dealing with detective Ayoub to give Franky a break, reliving that night over and over again he knew would do Franky no favours and he was trying to take the pressure off her as much as possible.

David knew he'd seen worse, much worse and even he had moments when he would slip deep into his own thoughts when he had a quiet moment and see the wild look in Joan's eyes again, her hatred for Bea was like a toxic soup swirling inside of her, hatred was all she seemed to have left. It seemed a foreign concept to him because David didn't hate anyone, he didn't remember a time he ever had, even when he found something or someone he disliked in some way he never quite got to hating, with people he always tried to understand their behaviour from a compassionate point of view yet with Joan even he had no compassion for her. He knew too well that hatred was just gasoline that fed the flames of more hatred and that could only ever guarantee more pain, more death.

Today had been no different from the previous two with the exception that Bea and Allie had gone over to the bar for a couple of hours, Shane and Thomas had made it very clear that everything was running smoothly and that they had no need to worry about anything and after sitting around for a while they had both decided that going home was the best idea. Allie knew Bea hadn't been sleeping well but couldn't get her to talk to her, even Bridget's attempt to get her to tell her how she was really feeling had amounted to nothing. Bea had her own way of dealing with things that never resulted in anything good happening and the less she slept the more Allie worried because she knew she was bottling everything up.

Laying in bed later that day Allie had fallen asleep almost straight away, an hour later Bea had all but given up trying the house was completely silent but the noise of her thoughts made even trying to sleep almost an impossible task, sleep somehow seemed like a fleeting chore as she wrestled with the dark and the light in her head trying to find comfort in one or the other but every night she lost the fight and had another sleepless night. For a while everything seemed clearer, like sleep might actually be a possibility when she snuggled in as close as humanly possible to Allie but the dark thoughts took over again and once more sleep seemed to have divorced itself from her and another hour passed before her eyes finally closed of their own accord and she descended into a fitful sleep.

It was the same, like the nightmare was on repeat and the knowledge of that was the only thing that kept her from sleep. The cellar was pitch black and she felt as blind as if her eyes had been gouged out and she was cold, so cold. She brought her hands up to her face just to make sure that her eyes were still there. She was alone no Franky or David to tell her they were doing the right thing, to give her even the tiniest glimpse of hope or comfort, to make even the slightest sound. She found the door that led upstairs and tried to go up but every time her foot fell through as if the staircase was simply a figment of her imagination, but she knew it was there hadn't she really seen it? She felt the adrenaline flood through her body like she was hooked up to an intravenous drip and her heart felt like it was about to explode. She wanted to run but there was nowhere to go no escaping the darkness. Freezing was the only choice, there was nothing that could quell the hammering in her chest that was so loud in her ears, if there were any other sounds she was never going to hear them over her own thunderous heartbeat.

A light behind her came on of its own accord and she turned to see that wall of photographs, each one of Allie had a cross over her face in thick black marker and she wanted to cry, in this nightmare she was gone taken from her in cruelest way possible but she didn't remember how. A noise behind her grabbed he attention and she spun around to face the freak who lunged at her, knife in hand plunging it into her chest, then her stomach, twisting it until the pain was unbearable. Looking back at her were cold black eyes, eyes that perfectly matched how she felt towards the world, dark and cold, the whites of her eyes contrasted sharply with the pitch black iris’s that were sunk deep into her head. They held nothing but hatred and were as deep as a black hole somewhere out in space creating an eeriness that could unsettle the bravest of people as the coldness emanated from them. And as soon as she had appeared she vanished and the light went out, Bea lay cold on the floor, alone, drowning, her breath evaporated from her lungs, her heart thumped erratically and her mouth dry. Pain and fear were weighing her down, she needed to breath but she couldn't she felt completely paralysed. Drowning and panicking in the dark and endless abyss that stretched out in front of her.

Allies eyes flew open the second she felt Bea thrashing around beside her, the last thing she remembered was laying in her arms as she fell asleep, she'd woken her up the night before but it was nothing like this. Allie traced her fingers down Beas forearm and she pulled it away from her gentle touch, Allie sat up moving herself into a kneeling position she caressed her cheek,

“Bea…” She whispered, “Bea, babe…everything's alright, your safe…wake up, please wake up…”

She kept repeating the same things until she finally stilled and opened her eyes slowly, tears springing to her eyes as soon as she saw Allie, reaching out for her she pulled her down, holding onto to her as if her life depended on her close proximity.

“I'm sorry.” Bea mumbled into her neck.

She wanted to scream but she just didn't have the strength, she felt frozen to the spot and her inability to move or do anything scared her a little. The remnants of her nightmare were still clinging to her mind, the only thing reminding her who she was and where she was was Allie arms around her. She felt like she'd been to hell and back, seeing Joan every time she closed her eyes made her feel like she must have because that was the only place that she could be now, hell isn’t for people who struggled with the stress of life, it isn't for the mentally ill or those who are too damaged to understand the difference between right and wrong, it has to be the place reserved for those people who know that their actions are wrong and carry on regardless, taking great pleasure in causing others anguish and taking what is not rightfully theirs.

“You don't have to apologise…you do need to talk to me, or at least try, you can't keep shutting me out.” Allie moved to lay beside her, all she needed her to know that no matter what she was there for her.

“I want to…I just…I don't know how, I don't want to scare you…or upset you.”

“You went through something that I could never even try to imagine, and I'm not sure I'd want to, maybe you should talk to Bridget, she might be able to recommend someone you could talk to.”

“Maybe…I don't know, I'm guessing she knows everything that happened, Franky never keeps anything from her.” Bea yawned, for the first time in two nights she finally felt tired.

“Try and get some sleep, I'll be right here.” Allie cuddled into her side.

The outside world was silent, it seemed that everything and everyone was asleep as time was marked by the changing numbers on the alarm clock. Daylight had long since vanished and it would still be a few hours before it reappeared. Bea closed her eyes hoping not to see Joan's face again that night and hoping more than that that she wouldn't end up being wide awake and aware of every second of every minute that passed. Her mind would constantly regurgitate every worry she had and when she slept it wasn't restful like it usually was because she couldn't rest even with Allie right there. All she could hope to do was do what she'd always done and take each day as it came.

———————————————

Returning to the bar two weeks later was exactly what Bea felt she needed, Allie had thought that she should take a few more days off but Bea was determined to get back to normal, or at least as normal as things could be. After being informed that there would definitely be no charges being brought against her for Joan's death she was able to sleep a little better, the fact that Joan's face did creep in to torment her sleeping hours was not going to force her to change her mind. Being at home all the time with nothing to do was driving her crazy, Debbie had called to say she would be coming home that weekend and Bea was determined that after everything that had just happened she wasn't going to let it spoil the couple of days the three of them would have together.

Monday lunchtime was busy and Shane was kept busy, even the fact that a smartly dressed man had asked one of the bar staff for him personally had not changed anything for him and he'd said that he would have to wait. Once the lunchtime rush was over he took a breather, sitting on one of the bar stools talking to Linda who was doing a few extra hours to help him out when the man approached him and introduced himself as William Langdon, solicitor representing the late Joan Ferguson's estate, Shane shook his hand no idea what he wanted him for, he'd only ever heard the name in passing a few times and then recently on the news other than that Shane had no clue who or what she was.

“I don't understand why you want to speak to me, I never met her…wouldn't have known her if I'd have passed her in the street, I think maybe you've made a mistake.”

“You are Shane Butler, your mother was the late Jianna Butler?”

“That's right…still doesn't explain why you're looking for me I told you I didn't know Joan Ferguson.”

“She knew your mother very well it seems, is there somewhere more private we could talk?”

Shane looked at him, he had no idea what was going on and he wasn't really sure that he wanted to, he had absolutely no interest in Joan Ferguson or hearing anything about her, she'd tried to kill Bea and wanted Allie dead as well. They treated him like family and took an interest in everything he did and were there if he needed help, slipping off the bar stool he walked away fishing his phone out of his pocket he called Allie explaining what was happening she said that she'd be over in twenty minutes.

“No offence mate but you have nothing to say to me that can't be said in front of my employers, they're on their way over now.”

“Very well I have no problem with that arrangement if that's what you want.”

Bea and Allie walked into the bar a short time later seeing Shane standing behind the bar looking uneasy, he didn't remember his mum and never thought about her at least not any longer. He used to wish she would come and get him when he was bouncing around from one foster home to the next but that had been before he understood that she was dead and it wasn't something that could ever happen, as he got older he hated her, he'd been told by one social worker that he would end up in prison just like his mum had. He'd spiralled out of control for the longest time after that revelation, stolen cars, shoplifted and gotten into fights over the most stupid things and then he'd met Will when he was trying desperately to turn his life around and find work. He wasn't interested in what this guy had to say to him but he didn't seem like the type to just give up and take no for an answer so he'd called Allie in the hope that she could give him some advice instead she'd said she'd be right over.

“Everything alright Shane?” Bea asked as she walked round the bar.

“Not really, that guy in the suit over there.” He said as he pointed him out, “He says he's the solicitor handling Joan Ferguson's estate. I never met her, I tried to tell him that but he said she knew my mum, bout right that I guess, I don't remember her but some psycho seems to have known her.”

“Come on kid we'll get it sorted out, bring him through to the office and hear him out yeah?”

“Why should I? I mean she was a fucking psycho bitch Bea, look what she tried to do, I want nothing to do with anything if she's involved…you and Allie you've always been here for me…I don't care what he wants, I don't want to upset either of you because of someone I never knew.”

“You won't upset us, Shane he's dealing with her estate, she obviously left something for you.”

“But I don't want anything.”

Bea nodded, “Just hear him out, we’ll be right there with you if that's what you want.”

If there was one thing he was sure of arguing with Bea would just be a waste of time, they weren't even meant to be in the bar until later and they'd both come in early just to help him out, the least he could do was take Beas advice and hear what the guy had to say, he didn't have to accept anything, he had everything he needed and he'd worked hard for everything he had.

Bea and Allie went through to the office to wait for Shane who appeared with William Langdon hot on his heels a few minutes later.

“Anything you have to say to me you can can say in front of Bea and Allie, I have nothing to hide from them and I'm sure that you know it was them she wanted to kill so just say what you've got to say and get out of here.”

“May I?” He gestured to a chair and Allie nodded. Placing his briefcase down on the desk he opened it before sitting down and pulling some papers from it.

“Mr Butler…”

“It's Shane got it, just Shane so just get on with it.”

“It would appear that you are the the only beneficiary of Joan Ferguson's estate, she had no living relatives I assume. I have it on good authority that the investigation into her finances is now over and I am in a position to now make arrangements for the money and property mentioned in her will to be transferred to you. I would much rather discuss the financial matter in private with you.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Mr…Shane, I realise that this may have come as a shock to you…there is also this letter addressed to you that I have to pass on, it is only a few weeks since I last saw Joan and she was adamant should anything happen to her before she got the opportunity to reveal herself to you that you should have this.” Handing Shane the letter he closed his briefcase. “I will leave you my card then you can contact me at your earliest convince to arrange further discussions regarding this matter.”

Shane accepted the envelope but had every intention of ripping it up the second this guy had left the premises, he wanted nothing to do with it, any of it, he'd come this far without any help from her and he would be just fine. As soon as Allie showed the solicitor out of the office Shane sank into one of the chairs.

“Are you going to read that?” Bea enquired as she studied him for a little longer than she usually would.

“I'm not interested Bea, all this shit, she knew my mum when I never got the chance to know her myself, how does that make any of this right? If she wanted to know me where the fuck was she when I was in foster care? When I was being moved around when they said I was causing too many problems, getting hit and constantly screamed at and I didn't understand what I'd done that was so wrong.”

Bea crouched down in front of him, it had just come as shock to him that one of the most evil people who ever walked the earth had know his mum, maybe she thought, maybe there was a tiny piece of Joan Ferguson that was actually human. “Shane I can't possibly know how you feel, all I can do is listen to you, but if you want to know what I think I'm more than willing to tell you.”

“She wanted to kill you Bea, you should be more angry than I am.”

Bea shook her head, “How can I be angry with you when you didn't actually know her? You'd never seen her, if she'd walked in here and stood right in front of you you'd have just thought she was another customer who wanted serving.”

“But…”

Allie stood in the doorway listening to them talk, Bea was always the one to care so deeply for anyone who mattered to her and she knew how much Bea cared for Shane, maybe it was because she knew about his childhood, maybe it was because he was only a little older than Debbie she wasn't quite sure but Bea was the least judgemental person she'd ever known.

“But nothing, I'm not saying that you should decide what to do right now but you should read that letter when you feel up to it, maybe she wanted to…I don't know, tell you about your mum, explain why she wasn't there for you. I know the woman that she had become but there could have been a glimmer of a softer side there somewhere, I refuse to believe that anyone is completely evil.”

Shane looked at her, with tears in his eyes, “Maybe I just don't want to know, what good does reliving the past ever do? I know my life was a mess before…I don't need things to come back, things I choose to try not to remember.”

“You can never out run your past Shane, sometimes it's just better to face it head on, rip the band aid off quickly. You aren't even in the slightest bit curious about her?” Bea stood up again and glanced towards the door before turning her attention back to Shane.

Shane shook his head, “I don't want to be…everything she's done, to you…to Allie, anyone she thought had done something to hurt her, why would I want anything from someone like that?”

“You don't have to accept anything from her Shane, just because she wanted to leave something to you doesn't mean you have to take it, besides you don't even know what she's left in her will, for all we know it could be her dead cat that she had stuffed.”

Shane had to laugh a little, Bea was right he knew that, “You'll stay with me? Both of you?” He turned his head to the doorway where Allie was still standing. “I don't want to be alone when I read this.” He held the envelope up.

Allie walked into the office and stood beside Bea, “I think it's safe to say that we're both here for you, whatever you need.”

They both pulled a chair so they could sit either side of him, Shane was so confused, caught between what he really wanted to do and what was the right thing to do. His heart told him to throw it away, rip it into a hundred pieces and deposit it in the bin, his head told him to read the letter and find out what, if anything, the monster of a woman thought she had to tell him. He could no more turn his emotions off than hold back the tide with a wish.

Ripping open the envelope he threw it on the desk and unfolded the sheet of paper it contained, taking a deep breath he began to read.

 

  
_My dearest Shane,_

_This is not what I intended but it would seem if you are reading this then events have taken an unfortunate turn and I am no longer in a position to tell you things in person as was my intention._

_I knew your mother extremely well, her death broke my heart. I do not wish to convey the strength of my feelings for you both in this letter but if you are willing to accept that I am not who people say I am then all will be revealed in due course, and I have so much to share with you._

_I have watched you grow, watched you struggle and then forge ahead with your life, although I feel the company you now keep is less than desirable. What I have to offer you is everything I have left, my memories of a life not always without pain and suffering but lived well and that in turn means I can give you more than you could ever hope to receive._

_I implore you to please take this gift that I have to offer you in the spirit that it is offered, with great love and affection._

_Yours_

_Joan_

 

  
Shane could hardly believe what he had just read, she had watched him grow, she knew how hard his life had been and she did nothing to help him, if she cared anything for him then why had she stood back and watched him suffer at the hands of people who were meant to take care of him. He passed the letter to Bea before getting up from his chair and storming out of the office, crossing the bar he almost ran outside. Bea quickly scanned the letter that he had handed to her before passing it to Allie and taking off after him, it seemed that even after her death Joan Ferguson still had the ability to play with people's minds.

Shane crossed the car park and stopped by a large grey iron bark tree, his fingers gripped into the crevices that ran through the bark as his eyes came to rest on the pattern, chaotic like the cracks that were beginning to form in his mind, under his feet the gravel that surrounded the tree was as noisy as the building static in his head. Nothing made sense anymore not even the tree that was right in front of him. His life suddenly seemed to lose all direction and meaning, everything he had done was meant to make him stronger, make him a better person and now all that hard work fell to the ground like the leaves from that tree would do when autumn returned. He willed the world to dissolve around him as his hand gripped the rough bark and a chilled breeze washed over him, nothing could reflect the pain that tore through his body shredding his brain from the inside as he began to cry. Years of emotional pain flowed through him, he let out a cry so raw that it even brought tears to Beas eyes as she got closer to him.

“Shane…” Bea said quietly. “Shane I know you're hurting.” She placed her hand on his shoulder as he turned his head a little to look at her. “I know you probably want to be alone right now but I just need to know that you're ok.”

“She knew about me Bea…how could she know what I was going through if she cared like she says she did why didn't she take me away from all of that?”

“Some people don't have the ability to help other people…your smart, you understand things differently from a lot of people…do you think you would have had a better life if she could have looked after you?”

Shane hung his head he didn't even need to think about his answer, “No…I doubt it…maybe I would have turned out just like her.”

“Every bad thing you ever experienced in your life made you who you are, your strong, stronger than you think…you'll get through this whatever you decide and move past it only you aren't alone to deal with things now, you have friends…you have me and Allie.”

“Yeah.” Was all he could croak out as he let Bea walk him back towards the bar, her arm firmly round his shoulders.

Allie was helping behind the bar when Bea led Shane back to the office, Bea had already offered to take him home but he had refused saying that he needed to finish his shift and also make up for the time he'd just wasted and nothing Bea could say would change his mind. After settling him in the office and making sure there was nothing he needed she returned to the bar wanting to give him some space to try and process his feelings.

Everything came flooding back to him as he sat in the office alone all the abuse he'd suffered at the hands of others brought more tears to his eyes than he though he had left but throughout all those those years strangely he knew that somehow he had found himself. He'd learnt to cling onto who he was through every storm he lived through, he'd fought for everything he was but held on to those memories, locked them away in some dark recess of his mind and now he remembered every single twist and turn in the road. Isn't that just what life is, a long far reaching cycle of forgetting and remembering? Yesterday was already history, pushed to the back if his mind, tomorrow would remain a mystery until it arrived and right here this was the present and scared him more than the past that he deplored and the future that he would face with apprehension. He would live his life to the fullest even though he knew at times he would be pushed to his breaking point but then he'd put himself back together and carry on.

He remembered something that Will had said to him not long after he started working at the bar while he was having a bad day.

“If you never try you'll never fail, if you never start you'll never finish, if you never open your eyes you'll never see, if you never feel sadness you'll never feel happiness and if you never love you'll never live.”

His life never seemed to be that simple, everything always seemed so complicated although sometimes he thought that it was those complications that made his life worth living and more interesting, this was just one more complication along the path he had made for himself. Life could be an undiscovered galaxy that held a million stars waiting to meet him. He got up from the chair, left the office and took his place back behind the bar smiling at Bea, he would get through whatever Joan Ferguson had thrown his way just like Bea had come through so much, the rest of this day would be good and he'd deal with what ever tomorrow threw at him when it arrived.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that made sense, I sat for long enough rereading it and still wasn't sure about the whole thing.


	139. Chapter 139

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for once again posting another chapter late, I did mean to get it finished yesterday then wasted half my afternoon carving pumpkins. Oh and don't ask how many Reese's peanut butter pumpkins ate.....

Debbie arrived home late on Friday night to find Bea and Allie having a heated discussion about something that sounded like it had everything to do with bar.

“You couldn't have mentioned that you were thinking of doing this sooner?” Bea asked not really interested at almost midnight in having this particular conversation.

“I did run the idea past you earlier in the week and you obviously weren't paying attention, although I do recall you nodding when I mentioned it.” Allie snapped.

Debbie dropped her bag next to the sofa and headed to the kitchen, it wasn't very often she heard them disagree about anything and wasn't going to wait for them to finish or for it to become more heated.

“You two sound like a pair of kids bickering at each other, need a referee?”

Beas eyes shot straight to the kitchen door, Debbie, so she thought, was meant to be arriving in the morning.

“Deb what are you doing here at this time of day?”

“Oh that's nice, here I was thinking that I'd surprise you and I find you arguing. Care to tell me what you're arguing about?”

“Nothing important.” Bea said as she shook her head.

“Nothing important?” Allie repeated, “I asked your mum earlier in the week about having a Halloween party at the bar on Wednesday night and I though she had agreed with me, I thought we could go shopping on Sunday for decorations and she's just being impossible.” Allie sat back down and slumped over the table.

“A Halloween party, are kidding me? Mum why are you being pig headed about a party?”

“I'm not, I just don't remember Allie asking me with everything that's been going on, she knows Shane is having a hard time. My mind wasn't on what she was asking me, it hasn't been on much other than Shane, I wasn't saying it was a bad idea it's just a little late to be organising it now.”

“Mum…seriously? It's never too late, I have no classes until Tuesday so I'm staying until Monday evening, I'd love to help if that's all you're worried about. Now can you two just kiss and make up please, honestly you're meant to be adults and walking in to you fighting like little kids wasn't something I was expecting.”

Allie had already set the ball rolling, almost everyone knew about it since she'd spent the remainder of the week promoting it and working closely with Shane, it took his mind off whatever Joan really had been up to and that had to be a good thing, even the head chef had come up with a great Halloween themed menu for the restaurant for the night. Bea hadn't paid a great deal of attention after they had received the news that Joan Ferguson's funeral was to be held on the 31st, of all the days she had thought it just had to happen on Halloween. Bea had already decided that she was going to attend, something in her head told her that she had to be there, to finally see her put where she belonged and Franky had agreed. Shane had worked out the special drinks for the night and had helped with the arrangements. Taking his mind off the whole Joan situation had been Allies main concern at the time and he'd seemed happier all week the more he busied himself with arranging what he was convinced would be the best night ever.

Bea slumped back in her chair, it was clear that Debbie was going to side with Allie on this and right now she wished that she had listened a little more closely, since Shane's visit from the solicitor she'd had little else on her mind other than how even after she was dead Joan could still play mind games with people.

“Ok…you and Deb go shopping for the decorations, you two together will be better at it than I would ever be…when have I ever arranged a party anyway, I wouldn't know where to start."

“I know you're worried about Shane…you're going with him to the solicitors office in the morning?”

“Yeah, I'm picking him up at 8am, thought it might be a good idea to take him for breakfast before we head over there…you sure you don't mind going over to the bar early?” Bea reached across the table for Allies hand. “I'm sorry, this whole thing has got my head messed up, you know her funerals at 10am on Wednesday.”

Allie had been guilty of not paying a great deal of attention herself, she'd heard the 10am part of the funeral arrangements and hearing that it was taking place on Halloween threw her head into a spin for a few moments.

“Anyone would think she'd planned for it to happen this way.” Debbie chuckled, “But you have to agree what better way to let everything she did go than with a party? Now if you two are done I think I'm going to bed, we have a lot to do to make this party a success.”

———————————————

Saturday morning rolled around a little too quickly for Beas liking, being the only one awake in the house a little after 4am she'd thought about getting up but when she'd tried Allie had snuggled in closer to her side and held her tighter making staying in bed a lot more appealing than it had first seemed when her eyes opened. She didn't know why she was nervous, she really had no need to be, Shane was going to be the one hearing what Joan had left for him and he'd been so nervous the day before that Bea had taken him home a couple of hours before his shift ended, naturally he'd objected but Bea had been very persuasive and after checking that he had everything he needed in his flat she'd found out that he obviously hadn't been taking good care of himself since he'd first received the news from William Langdon, there was very little food in the place and it was a little messier than he usually left things. He'd protested when Bea had returned 45 minutes after leaving him with bags full of groceries telling her that he had just kept putting the shopping off and he would pay her back asking for the receipt which she had accidentally on purpose thrown away before she headed back to his place. There was no denying the fact that Bea was concerned about him, she'd almost followed him round the bar all week and even she was sure that Shane must be sick of her but try as she might there was nothing that would stop her from checking up on him after she'd seen him break down on Monday.

“You're worried about Shane.” Allie mumbled sleepily as she peered at Bea through half open eyes.

“You can't tell me that you aren't either…I just don't know how this mornings going to play out, the whole thing could be some sick game she had planned.”

“He’ll be in good hands your going to be with him…how did you ever get him to agree to not work today?”

“It was hard work, I eventually agreed to him making the hours up on Monday nights for the next couple of weeks, I think he just loves karaoke night but he'll never admit to it.”

“Stay with him as long as you need yeah? The bars covered, Linda was looking for some overtime and she jumped at the chance to work this morning.”

“Tell me a time she doesn't.” Bea chuckled, “I'll make sure to call you when we're done at the solicitors office…thank you…for arranging cover, I never even thought about it and I know Shane was worried about leaving us short staffed.”

“Hey…we're in this together remember, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to be there with you both but we have a big delivery for the restaurant this morning and Thomas cant be expected to handle everything all the time. I've left a lot to him lately and even though he's said he's fine with it I really need to put in a little effort.”

They lay together in almost complete silence until the alarm sounded making Bea jump, every possible scenario had played out in her head from Shane simply inheriting a fortune to there being some warped conditions he had to fulfil to gain what she wanted him to have…the worst thing she thought was that maybe there wasn't anything of any importance, she'd said she wanted to tell him more about his mum and if that was a lie she knew he wouldn't handle it well. They'd spent a lot of time talking while the bar was quiet and she knew the one thing he wanted, that he'd always wanted, was to know more about his mum.

Bea dragged herself out of bed, the prospect of hearing anything from Joan Ferguson was daunting even for her so she knew that Shane would most likely be feeling even worse. After showering and getting dressed she found Debbie and Allie both in the kitchen discussing the party Allie had planned, to hear Allie so excited again about something she was arranging made her smile, recent events seemed to have dulled her smile a little but this morning it was back brighter than ever.

“You have time for a coffee before you pick Shane up?" Allie asked with a smile.

“Even if I didn't I'd make time.” Bea replied as she crossed the kitchen wrapping her arms around Allies waist, “I'm sorry I haven't been paying attention…I think your Halloween party is a great idea, maybe it's just what everyone needs to let their hair down and try and forget about Joan Ferguson.”

“I hope so…don't worry about anything, just concentrate on Shane and we'll see you later.”

———————————————

Shane barely ate anything just as Bea had expected, he was a bag of nerves and kept looking around the diner the whole time they were there as if he were expecting someone to jump out on them to tell him the whole thing had been a sick joke.

When they arrived at the solicitors office Bea told the receptionist who they were there to see before being asked to take a seat. They were five minutes early and William Langdon hadn't arrived yet, Shane sat down and nervously tapped his foot glancing at Bea from time to time giving her a nervous smile. Bea looked up for a moment not really noticing that the receptionist had been staring at her since she sat down as their eyes met she was greeted with a bright smile, she quickly looked back at Shane when she felt him kick her foot slightly.

“You'd be in trouble if Allie were here.”

“Hey I did nothing!”

“Yeah, but she obviously can't take her eyes off ya.”

“Hmmm, you ever heard the expression about being able to look but not touch?”

“I'm just messin with ya need something to take my mind off all this crap…but Allie would be pissed off is she was here.”

Bea hated having to wait and after another ten minutes they were still waiting, she glanced around making sure not to look in the receptionists direction. The room was designed to inspire confidence but having to wait for longer than Bea thought necessary was doing nothing but make her feel even more apprehensive about the situation. There were watercolours hanging on the neutral coloured walls, a square glass topped coffee table strewn with magazines and the comfortable chairs that they found themselves currently occupying were a deep brown. The couple of other people who were also waiting to be seen were gazing into space seemingly deep in their own private worlds.

When William Langdon eventually appeared he apologised to Shane for his wait and said he would be with them in a few minutes before he disappeared into his office.

“He seems really happy to be here.” Shane said as he looked at Bea who just nodded.

A couple of minutes later he reappeared and asked them both into his office, taking a seat behind his desk he apologised again as he indicated for them to take a seat.

“Mr But…”

“Quite with the Mr, it's Shane got it? Listen I don't want to be here it's only because Bea convinced me that I should hear you out again that I am so can we just get on with this?”

William Langdon felt suddenly very uncomfortable by the icy glare that Shane had shot him, all he actually knew was that Joan had no one, not one living relative, at least none that she ever spoke of and for some reason he had seen her soften the second she spoke about Shane Butler, probate wasn't what he usually dealt with but he had done this as a favour for her and if he couldn't convince Shane to take what she wanted him to have he was in no doubt that Joan even from the grave would make him pay if the threat she had made the last time he saw her was true.

“I apologise Shane, in my line of work it is customary to address my clients with their proper title you can understand that?” Shane said nothing just kept his eyes on him, “Ms Ferguson had only one stipulation….for you to inherit you must attend her funeral.”

Shane's eyes shot straight to Bea, he knew she was going but why should he be expected to attend? Bea nodded at him as he frowned before turning his attention back to the solicitor. “That's it? I have to go to her funeral, you can't tell me right now what it is I'm supposed to inherit?”

“I can tell you that it is a rather sizeable estate…but…I'm afraid I cannot divulge the actual contents to you until after the funeral.”

You could have told me this over the phone instead of making me waste time sitting around waiting for you.” Shane spat back at him, he had no desire to go to her funeral, even less so because he knew when it was, he was sure that was going to be a really great day after all the help he'd given Allie arranging the party and didn't want his enthusiasm dampening by having to attend a funeral, especially not her funeral.

“He'll be there, he has the support of his friends, there is no mention of him having to attend alone I take it?” Bea asked quickly as she was getting up from her seat.

William Langdon shook his head and smiled weakly at her, he didn't care who was there, it was bad enough that he had to attend. Shane followed Bea and rose to his feet not wanting to spend anymore of his day wasting his time. “Then we will see you on Wednesday morning Mr Langdon.”

“Why did you say that?” Shane asked the second he closed the car door behind him.

“Shane…I…if there's still a glimmer that you may find out more about your mum are you not willing to try? You told me yourself that you wanted to know what she was like.”

“I do…that could still be a lie, I don't want her money, I already told you that.”

“And you still don't have to keep it, donate it to charity if that would make you feel better, burn it…can you honestly tell me that you can walk away knowing that you might have been given a chance to finally get to know more about your mum?”

Everything Bea said was true, he did want to know he just didn't like the price he had to pay, after a few minutes he agreed on the condition that since his meeting hadn't been as draining as he had expected that Bea would let him go back to the bar with her. She did try to argue but it was pointless and Shane won his first argument with Bea.

———————————————

The weekend passed quickly and before any of them knew it it was Monday and Debbie was getting ready to leave before she received a phone call informing her that her lectures had been cancelled until Thursday afternoon, events had conspired in her favour and she almost ran down stairs to tell Bea and Allie that she was staying a couple of days longer. Generally she would have just returned to uni but after spending hours on Sunday picking out decorations with Allie she hadn't wanted to miss the party and had considered making an excuse to stay at home a few days longer, a burst pipe might seem like a trivial thing but just for once she was going to use the opportunity to stay at home and help with the party. After rearranging her flight for the earliest she could possibly get for Thursday morning she sat around with Allie for most of the morning planning exactly how they were going to decorate the bar and restaurant for the occasion.

Debbie had come to the conclusion that a lot of people spend a lot of time and money on their Halloween decorations, and since it was something that she'd never had the chance to experience properly because of Harry she even managed to change Beas mind on the topic and get her to see that it would be fun. Allie had already spared no expense when it came to gathering everything they had needed to creep out everyone who would be there, the office at the bar looked more like a store room than an office when they had dumped everything in there on Sunday afternoon, all they had to do now was collect the pumpkins on Wednesday morning and they were all set. Bea thought that they were completely crazy when they agreed that they would be at the bar by 7am and even Boomer had offered to help after convincing Maxine that since Wednesdays were always slow she could quite easily manage without her.

When Bea arrived at the bar to pick Shane up she was surprised to find Franky and David there, neither of them had mentioned anything about helping out or about the funeral.

“Thought we’d tag along, make sure that bitch really does get planted six feet under.” Franky said as she looked across at Shane.

“Can't see anyone who's going to object to your reasoning.” Bea replied before asking Shane if he was ready to go. He wasn't, didn't think he would ever be even if this day were to happen in ten years time but he nodded all the same before pulling on his jacket and straightening his tie. He may not be happy to be attending this funeral but he made the effort to look his best.

For all her years on this earth all Joan Ferguson's life amounted to was laying in a cheap wooden box, there was never going to be any argument that this was the best place to put this particular evil, sadistic, dead and decaying piece of human garbage. Willian Langdon approached them as they arrived at a small rundown church, even he didn't look as if he really wanted to be there. Detective Ayoub greeted them as they entered the church, six people, six people who all looked as if they had better things to be doing that morning rather than attend this funeral. There was no despair in anyone eyes but plenty of happiness, they were happy she was gone, all grateful that she would not return. Normal funeral etiquette had no place here, there was no family to visit and pay their respects to, no wake afterwards to attend and absolutely no sadness associated with her death. The vicar did the best he could with the information that he had about her life, no one shed a tear as she was lowered into the ground and no one looked back as they walked away from the graveside.

Franky breathed a sigh of relief as they walked back to their cars, “That's an end to it…doubt we will have anymore to worry about now.”

“Let's hope not…doubt Channing will ever be in a position to cause any more problems at least.” David offered although not completely convinced.

William Langdon approached Shane handing him a large envelope and a set of keys, “I believe you'll find everything is in order.”

Shane looked at him in disbelief, “What are the keys for?”

“I believe they are the keys to her late fathers house, her instructions were very clear, you get the house and its contents, the money will be transferred to your account within the next week or so, that's all I can really tell you. I never had need to visit the property but it would seem she already had it transferred over into your name before she escaped, I wasn't privy to the details of that she never used just one solicitor for anything it would seem, she just had the keys sent to my office with the envelope. I sincerely hope that you find what she promised you.”

———————————————

As October almost evaporated into November the temperature was becoming noticeably warmer, on the drive back to the bar Shane had opened the window and was watching the houses pass by most of which were either already decorated for the day or their occupants were busy putting the finishing touches to their Halloween displays, something Shane had loved since being a kid although he remembered the day not being quite so popular as it was now and he didn't remember ever having the opportunity to dress up and have any fun, this year would be a first for him and he planned on making the most out of it. Some of the houses were elaborately decorated, garages had been turned into demonic dungeons and left open for all to see and severed limbs hung from closed windows and trees. Halloween was a day to let loose your inner freak and his mind wondered back to the events of the morning as he concluded that only a real freak would relish in having their funeral on Halloween. Shaking those thoughts free from his head he watched the passing front lawns many of which were decorated as graveyards, corpses hung from trees, cobwebs were draped over fences, bushes and spanned the doorways, everything inviting the kids who later in the day would be roaming the streets for the promise of candy.

Boomer had already carved the scariest faces she could into a few pumpkins and she didn't think they were nearly frightening enough, her intention was to make everyone who walked passed hers jump and most of them had already been placed outside the bar.

“I think maybe we overdid the pumpkins.” Debbie concluded as she entered the bar after taking two more outside.

“Na Deb ya can neva have too many…but they gotta be scary.” Boomer answered as she turned her attention back to the pumpkin she had just put the finishing touches to, the one she wanted to glare back at her with soulless eyes, she huffed and placed her hands in her hips it still looked too friendly, on the scariness scale she concluded that this one was about as scary as a chocolate teapot! But there was no time to waste and it was on to the next.

Boomers thoughts soon turned to other things as she emptied out the slippery contents of another pumpkin, the grown up thing to do was throw it away with the rest but frankly she figured that being an adult was just boring when there were so many uses for pumpkin guts as a bright grin settled on her lips when she looked over at Debbie imagining her covered in them. Allie looked up and found that grin both funny and concerning all at once, it wasn't hard to work out what she was thinking.

“Just don't.” Allie warned.

“Hey come on blondie are ya a mind reada now or sumfin?”

The three of them continued working as Boomer set about telling them the scariest story she could think of, one Debbie had heard before but kept quiet as Boomer told them about a vampire who only comes out on Halloween night, how he would drink the blood of an entire family then drape their lifeless bodies outside their house. Her voice became increasingly more dramatic as she enthusiastically demonstrated the trick or treaters squeals of delight when they came across what they thought were the most realistic decorations in the neighbourhood. She couldn't resist acting out how they trotted up to the door in an exaggerated manner, raising her eyebrows so high that they almost disappeared into her hair she eventually delivered the punch line in the huskiest voice she could muster, “They all soon discovered that they were the treats!” Before Allie and Debbie could recover from laughing so hard Boomer flicked her fingers in their direction sending pumpkin seeds and slop over them turning the whole situation into complete mayhem as they started flicking pumpkin guts at each other.

Bea and Shane heard the commotion from outside the door completely unaware that Boomer had already rigged up her own homemade special effect for the door, walking in they were greeted by a shriek and a cloud of smoke. Shane took one look at the three of them and burst out laughing while Bea tried her hardest to hold back her laugh.

“What do you three look like?” She asked trying to keep a straight face.

“Huh…shit…ummm, sorry Bea…I was like tellin em a scary story…” Boomer said as she looked sheepishly between Shane and Bea who couldn't hold her laughter in anymore.

Linda had not been impressed with all the fuss they had made decorating the bar and apart from serving the few regular customers had tried to stay out of the way as much as she could but by the time it was all finished even she had to admit that it looked good.

Boomer returned before the party was due to start eagerly wanting to reveal the costume that she had put together herself, a witch with warts and all. She also came armed with bags of spider candy and slug marshmallows.

"How many trick or treaters do you expect are going to knock on the door to a bar Booms?" Bea asked unable to hide her amusement.

"Hey...grown ups like candy too!" Boomer answered certain that if no one else wanted any she would happily eat the whole lot herself, although maybe not all in one night.

As darkness fell the outside of the bar was illuminated by an eerie green glow, the air was filled with shrieks and the sounds of chains being dragged, all effects that Boomer had worked on over the week. As people started arriving their attention was drawn to a stooped figure dragging something behind him, getting closer they could see it was a corpse, another of Boomers props especially made for the night. Shane had happily volunteered to greet everyone and took to the role like a duck to water, “Come in if you dare,” he would say in a voice that sounded like he smoked at least sixty a day.

Cobwebs billowed in the breeze outside and hung from the ceiling in the bar dirty looking and tangled, they clung to the windows obscuring the dim light filtering in from outside. All manner of other decorations were placed around the bar and Boomer was most proud of a small area where she had built a false wall that looked like there was a broken mirror hanging on it. Bea was puzzled by it until she investigated further and almost jumping into Allies arms when a she found that there was someone behind it ready to make anyone passing by jump.

Bea decided that she wasn't falling victim to anymore of Boomers homemade decorations and retreated back behind the bar, it was the busiest the bar had ever been, Monday nights were busy but tonight there was hardly any room to move. Looking out into the crowded bar it was hard not to notice Franky dressed as a darkly brooding vampire draped in black with fangs that appeared to be dripping blood, David as a brain devouring zombie moaning and groaning at the wart faced witch that was Boomer. Little dead riding hood stalked her way through the crowd, carving knife in hand before smiling at Shane, who had finally come back inside, and asked him for a grave digger leaving Bea wondering how Maxine had even come up with that costume. Bridget was late as usual dressed as a devil giving the ghouls and headless horsemen in the crowd an unnerving smile as she made her way over to the end of the bar where the rest of their friends had somehow managed to congregate.

“I need a drink!” Bridget announced right as Bea handed her a glass of red wine.

“I think we could all use one after this morning.” Bea smiled as Bridget took the offered glass.

This was not the night to talk about the funeral, Shane hadn't even looked in the envelope and had said he wasn't going to until the next day, one thing he had been sure of was that nothing was going to dampen his mood once the party started, it was Halloween, the one night of the year that no matter who you were you could be a little crazy, let your hair down and just enjoy watching the whole world warp, experience reality in a different way. Monster mash margaritas, witches brew, blood orange sangria and poisoned apple cocktails flowed along with the pints and bottles of beer. The music got louder and given the limited space people danced and enjoyed themselves as outside the moon was a silver arc behind the thinnest of grey clouds. It was quite a balmy evening in every sense of the word, something about this night just brought the silly out in everyone, the roars of laughter were louder, the ghouls seemed even more ghoulish and the drinks flowed freely. When Allie finally found her way back from the restaurant she noticed straight away that even Bea who hadn't been all that keen on the idea of the party was enjoying herself, after the last few weeks she was happy that finally, even if it was for only one night, all the cares and worries that she had been carrying on her shoulders were forgotten and her smile lit up the whole bar.

 


	140. Chapter 140

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find it hard to believe that we're already at chapter 140, I never intended this to be so long, and I'm sure in places so boring!

Shane sat at the desk in the office staring at the envelope he had left there the previous day with the bunch of keys sitting on top of it, he knew he really should just get it over with, pick up the envelope and rip it open but something told him that he shouldn't do it alone. Bea and Allie were out in the bar removing the rest of the decorations from the night before and he didn't want to disturb them, there was so much to do but they had both sent him to the office to open that envelope. Allie kicked the door open and dumped a box of decorations in the corner of the room looking at Shane she could see the worry etched on his face.

“You want Bea here with you while you open that?”

“I'd rather not open it at all.” He sighed, “I know how busy you both are, it can wait, I'll come and help you.”

Bea crashed through the door carrying three boxes and almost walked into Allie, “That's the last of it, next time you decide to have a party can we not have so many decorations?”

“Hmmm, well I guess I did go a little over the top but you have to admit it was fun.”

Bea stacked the boxes in the corner before sitting next to Shane without saying a word. He looked at them both and Allie smiled back at him, Bea and Allie like Will always seemed to know more than they let on and unlike most people he had encountered in his life they would never say ‘I told you so’ or belittle the intensity of his feelings. They always seemed to see him more clearly as a person and not just another problem creating employee. They understood the significance of things, knew why hurtful comments hurt so much, understood how hard he'd had to fight to create the life he had and they both would always be a listening ear whenever he needed it. It felt like they were his number one supporters and knowing something of what they had both lived through before they met they were his heroes.

“The sooner you do this the sooner you're going to know, looking at it wont make it vanish and it won't make you feel any better.” Bea said sympathetically.

Shane nodded, picking up the envelope he allowed the keys to slide off onto the desk his hands trembling a little. Looking across at Bea for a second he wished he'd never heard the name Joan Ferguson and couldn't understand how his mum could have ever met her, all his life all he'd ever had were way more questions than he could find the answers to and if there was a chance that he could find even a few answers then accepting whatever she wanted him to have had to be a good thing didn't it? Tearing the envelope open he allowed the contents to spill out onto the desk the deeds to the property were the first thing he noticed, looking at the document more closely he recognised the area where the house was causing him to shake his head, Williamstown was a popular beachside suburb containing a mixture of period style and more modern properties, and house prices were pretty high, it certainly wasn't an area he could have ever dreamed of owning a house in. There was another letter and he put that to one side for the moment his curiosity hadn't peaked enough for him to want to know what else Joan had to say to him. Among the papers the envelope contained there were stock certificates all with his name on and a passbook for a savings account, looking at the very first page it appeared the account had been opened for him a few days after he was born and money had been deposited in to it every month since, flipping through the book to the last deposit his mouth hung open when he saw the balance.

“This can't be right.” He said as he handed it to Bea, “There has to be a mistake, I don't understand any of this.”

“It looks like someone wanted you to be at least a little financially secure if you ask me.”

“But Bea…that Langdon guy said money would be transferred to my account, not that he actually bothered to tell me how much and he had said he was going to tell me but he didn't, what next? There's more money in that account than I ever dreamed I'd have, the house must be worth a fortune and then everything else…I…I don't want any of this, I just want to get on with my life just the way it is.”

“Nothing's stopping you from doing that, maybe you should open the letter it might explain all this.”

“Yeah…I guess…”

Picking up the envelope he tore it open and unfolded the sheet of paper that it contained and let his eyes land on the neatly written words.

 

  
_Dearest Shane,_

_Your search for answers is now almost at an end you will find everything you are looking for when you visit the house, your house, what was once my childhood home from this moment on belongs to you. My biggest regret is that I was never able to reveal myself to you while I was still alive, I regret not being strong enough to fulfil the promise I made to your mother to take care of you. I did the only thing I knew how to do to try and provide a good start for you, in reality I had always meant to reveal everything to you the day you turned 18 and I regret that I didn't do that, didn't take the opportunity to get to know you, to tell you personally everything that I know you wanted to know to answer your questions, my only hope now is that you find all the answers._

_Until I met your mother my heart was ice, my soul searched a wasteland. I cared deeply for her, for you and then you were both gone, taken from me in the cruelest possible way, know that there is love in this world for you because you have been loved. I know that for a time you only saw cold and darkness, everything around you felt like a void, but life can and does get better. Stay strong, there is more beauty ahead for you. There are times in your life when all you can do is live one day at a time take whatever comes your way and do your best. One day you will find someone who makes you feel safe and everything will go right. Everyone needs love just as much as they need food and water, love is your birthright and for a short time you truly were loved. Love is an intrinsic part of your soul, know that as I write this I am sending you love, we all have the need to feel loved and you are more than worthy of love I promise you that._

_At the house, in the cellar you will find a safe, the code is written on the back of this letter. You will find your answers contained within that safe. I wish for you nothing but the best life from this moment on, I sincerely hope that my provisions for you will greatly help in every endeavour you undertake from this moment on._

_Yours with deepest affection_

 

_Joan_

 

  
“She was a piece of work.” Shane sounded deflated, “I have to go to that fucking house, everything, all of this was just a game to her and I want nothing from her.”

———————————————

The house was huge, standing alone it almost looked detached from civilisation, Bea, Allie and Shane stood outside the black iron gates when Shane pressed the keys into Beas hand, he meant what he said about not wanting anything from Joan and he was not going to be the one to unlock the door, doing that to him felt like he would be accepting what she had given him and although he still didn't know what to do with everything he was sure he wasn't going to hang onto it. Allie gently pushed the gates open wincing a little at the ear piercing screech that came from them. Walking up the driveway side by side the garden looked as if it was still been cared for and Shane suddenly had the feeling that they were being watched.

“Maybe we should just go…I have everything I need already.”

“You aren't even slightly curious about this place?” Allie asked, she understand him not wanting the place but not taking a look around and finding the safe that was meant to be there seemed like madness to her.

“Well yeah…I guess, you don't feel like someone's watching us?”

“It is a little creepy…hey think of the Halloween party we could have had here.”

“Allie seriously…do you ever stop with the crazy ideas?” Bea shook her head but could see what she meant, “We don't have to go in if you really don't want to, or I could go and find the safe for you.”

“Na…Allies right, guess I am curious…just stick with me ok, it'd just be my luck for it to be falling to pieces inside.”

The house looked like it had chosen solitude for itself, as if it didn't need the luxury of anyone living in it. Coming to a stop outside the black painted front door Bea unlocked it, pushed it open and stepped inside closely followed by Shane and Allie. The hallway was wide and long, the floor was highly polished parquet, each individual block looked as though it had been lovingly placed, sanded to a smooth finish before being varnished with the finest of brushes. The walls stood firm, the window frames were strong, this was once a home that had been loved and imagining Joan here at anytime in her life was a struggle. Now though it stood cold and empty, it smelt musty and dust covered every visible surface, someone still cared for the garden but it was obvious that no one had entered the house in a long time, probably the last person to be stood right there was Joan herself before she had been locked away where she belonged.

Pushing open a door to the right they stepped into the dining room, it was a grand space to say the least. A huge mahogany table took up most of the space the room had to offer, Allie walked further into the room running her fingers over the highly polished but dusty surface. Two silver candelabras drew their attention to the centre of the table, and still held smooth white candles that had never been lit.

“Think you need a cleaner kid.” Allie remarked as she looked around the room, Shane just shrugged, what did he care about the dust he was never going to live in the place.

Walking across the hallway the entered another room guessing it had been used as a living room, the furniture here was all handmade, every piece was made of hardwood and looked like something out of the Victorian era. The soft furnishings were colour coordinated in muted natural tones and looked comfortable enough but by no means plush. You could easily imagine sitting here for polite conversation with guests but sitting comfortably in one of the armchairs with a good book, no this was not the place that anyone would ever consider doing that.

Moving on to another room that was full of ornate bookcases Shane began to take more of an interest, the bookcases looked as if they had been hand carved by someone who had a great love of literature. They were covered in carvings of leaves, autumn berries and birds, they invited the fingers to take them in just as much as the eyes. Pulling a red leather bound book from its resting place, cracked and dry with age smelling faintly of tobacco and dust, the pages contained within were brittle and it seemed that nothing was really holding it together. Opening the book Shane saw a faint scrawl on the inside cover making out the name Ivan Ferguson.

“Hey this is a journal….maybe we could find more, take them with us might be some interesting stuff in there.” Shane grinned, his interest was peaked and couldn't help but wonder if Ivan was Joan's father. The first page began in the middle of a sentence suggesting that either there were pages missing or there was another that came before this one.

“Everything here is yours, you can do what you like with it…although I wouldn't suggest doing anything drastic like setting it on fire.”

“Yeah Bea like I would…no way I'm that stupid anymore but once I might have just done that.”

Looking through the rest of the books on the shelves they picked out a dozen books that all looked the same, checking them they found that they were all journals and all inscribed with the same name inside the front cover, Ivan Ferguson.

“You taking those with you when we leave?” Bea asked, she was pretty interested to know what was contained within them herself and hoped that Shane might let her have a look when he was through with them.

Finding the kitchen they could all tell that it wasn't long ago that it had been remodelled, it was sleek and professionally designed with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and well equipped. Utensils were hung on hooks, the refrigerator still hummed and a very professional looking knife block sat in pride of place next to a heavy wooden chopping board, it was uncluttered and a place that Bea knew Franky would love.

Leaving the kitchen Shane opened another door finding a set of steps that must lead down to the cellar, he quickly turned to look at Bea who was looking at the staircase.

“Up or down?” Shane asked.

“That's up to you, we'll go where ever you want to go.”

Shane thought for a moment, he wanted to look around more and knew that as soon as they found the safe and opened it the contents may dampen his mood and he really wasn't quite ready for that. He smiled as he pointed towards the staircase, “Onwards and upwards it is then.”

The stairs that lay ahead of them looked to be made of walnut, but the thick layer of undisturbed dust made it hard to tell, the inner edge was painted in an antique cream and Bea brushed aside some of the dust finding that the paint was still quite perfect, no dirt or peeling, it just looked like one day everything was perfect and then abandoned the next. She let her hand fall on the bannister as she put her weight on the first step, there was no creak and the step felt as solid as the day it was made, the three of them walked swiftly to the top leaving only their shoe prints behind.

Entering one of the bedrooms it looked as though it had been furnished on a meagre budget, nothing like the rest of the house, but it seemed to be full of more warmth than any other room they had seen yet. On the back wall was a mural, a tree with every colour of autumn leaf imaginable. A crude pine bed sat in the corner of the room covered in an orange blanket and from every wall smiled back black and white photographs. Shane looked a little closer as did Bea and she knew straight away that one of the children in those photographs was Joan, the eyes gave her away, even as a child she had cold hard unfeeling eyes.

“You think that's her family?” Shane whispered suddenly feeling uneasy.

“Must be…but looking at these I think she had a sister and that Langdon guy said she had no living relatives, the police were never able to find anyone…shit did everyone in this family meet an untimely end?”

“You know more than I do.”

“Unfortunately…I wish I didn't know half of what I do.”

The other three bedrooms were much the same, and Shane wondered why the rest of the house seemed to have been so well decorated, was it all just for appearances and the bedrooms didn't matter because visitors were never permitted on the upper level of the house? Finding a narrow staircase that led up to the attic they made their way up, the attic with its low beams and one small window felt small and claustrophobic. There were stacks of dusty boxes and bags all over the place, it was nothing more than a graveyard for long forgotten items that had been stored there, maybe for sentimental reasons or maybe for later use. ‘Out of sight out of mind,’ Shane thought as he opened a box seeing it full of children's toys, maybe they were placed there so the pain of parting with them would be postponed. Shane shivered a little when he thought that Joan may have once been the owner of these things but they were of no use now to anyone and all Shane could think was that the best place for them was the tip.

Seeing an old suitcase in the corner on top of a stack of boxes Bea opened it finding it full of black leather bound books, picking one up she found that these too were journals and judging from the hand writing these had belonged to Joan.

“You might want to take these with you as well.”

Shane agreed, there might be more in them than anyone could imagine and maybe they'd find out the real truth about Joan and her family, maybe they would finally find out why she was such a despicable excuse for a human being.

Finally making their way back downstairs they all headed for the cellar, the stone steps descended into the cellar like a grey stone stream, each step looked weathered and worn like someone had walked up and down them thousands upon thousands of times. Shane gazed around the cellar seeing another door at the far end, supposedly there was a safe in here somewhere but it certainly wasn't apparent where it was. The cellar reminded Shane of a bunker, all concrete walls and no personality. Without any air circulation down there the stagnant smell made the dark room feel more dungeonesque than anything and he started to worry about Bea being down there with him a little.

“You don't have to be down here with me Bea, this must bring back some bad memories.”

“A little…nothing I can't handle, I told you I wouldn't leave you and I won't.”

“You're too good to me you know that? Most people would have told me to get my act together and left me to do this by myself.”

“It would never happen, you're a good kid we both know that…so any ideas where a safe might be hiding?”

After looking around a little more Shane noticed that Bea was staying closer to Allie more than she had in any other part of the house and he felt guilty for bringing her down there with him. Shrugging his shoulders there was only one place left to look, behind that door. It was locked and Bea tried the other keys finally getting the right one she unlocked it leaving Shane to open it and as soon as he did he wasn't happy with what he saw. Sure there was a huge safe in there but the set of metal bunk beds gave him an uneasy feeling, even more so when he spotted what looked like small spots of blood on the wall near the safe, fair enough it looked like it had been there for quite some time but it was blood all the same.

Pulling the letter from his back pocket he glanced at the numbers written on it before handing it to Allie.

“I don't want to open it, not sure I want to see what's in there…will you do it Al?”

Allie looked at Bea who just nodded at her, she hesitated for a few seconds not sure that it was her place to be doing this but Shane seemed determined not to do it himself and she didn't want to seem as if she wasn't on his side, he'd experienced that feeling too many times in his life already and she knew that feeling too well herself. Letting go of Beas hand she stepped forward and looked closer at the safe, it wasn't old and had an electronic keypad, that came as a relief because she was certain that she wouldn't be able to figure anything else out. Punching the numbers in she quickly opened the safe and opened it finding it full of different coloured folders.

“Should we just take all this with us?” Allie asked as she turned to Shane and Bea who were both stood to one side.

Shane nodded, he didn't want to spend much longer here now, this room creeped him out and he couldn't help but imagine what might have happened in there and he also didn't want to look at anything right now. The dried blood on the wall was still creeping him out and he couldn't get the thoughts out of his head that someone might have been kept down there, why would there be any need for bunk beds behind a locked door? More to the point why would there even be any need for a secret room? Grabbing all the files between them they made their way back up the stone steps taking them to Beas car before returning to the house for the journals. Locking the house back up Shane was relieved when he was finally sat in the backseat of Beas car. Bea had already suggested that they take everything back to their house, they had plenty of room in the garage to store it and Shane would always be welcome to go round when ever he wanted and Bea suspected that he didn't really want anything that he taken from the house hanging around his place. Shane had agreed almost as soon as Bea had suggested it but said maybe they could arrange a few hours to go through everything from the safe sometime soon, that was the stuff that he really wasn't looking forward to looking through.

Arriving at the house they took everything into the garage and Allie said that he should stay for dinner, he tried to argue that he'd taken up way too much of their time already that day something Allie and Bea both completely disagreed with and wouldn't take no for an answer, leaving Allie and Shane in the garage trying to arrange Ivan's journals into some kind of order she disappeared off to the kitchen to make a start on dinner. Half an hour later Allie and Shane were sitting in the kitchen trying to read one of the journals which was proving a little difficult since since a lot of the handwritten pages were a little faded.

“Can you believe this dates back to when she was born? Honestly Bea this guy kept a record of almost everything from the looks of this.”

“I can believe that, from what I heard about her dad he was a major in the army and he didn't sound like he was ever easy on her, not that I'd ever try to make excuses for how she was but if he was that strict it could explain a lot.”

After dinner Shane spent a little longer with them before he said that he'd better be getting home, taking the journal with him that they had started looking through. Getting into bed he started reading again finding it hard to put this book down, even he was ready to admit that Joan didn't seem to have had the best start in life, moving from place to place on a regular basis but still that was no excuse, maybe as they got through the journals they may find out the answers but for tonight Shane needed to sleep, tomorrow was another day and after work he would spend the rest of the day reading more. He still wasn't sure when he was going to want to look at what they had removed from the safe but he had plenty of time to get to that and the support of Bea and Allie.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to admit that I will be wracking my brain for an ending to this story very soon, at times it's been hard to write and at times writing it helped me a lot, but all good things have to come to an end eventually, if not I fear I may still be writing this forever!


	141. Chapter 141

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for how long it has taken me to update, and in all honesty today was the one day that I least expected to get this chapter finished. The one day of the year when I would usually not feel like doing anything at all and especially not writing but for some reason today has been better, calmer and for the first time in four years more peaceful.

Shane sat in the kitchen with Bea and Allie on Sunday morning still half wondering why he was doing this, piles of different coloured folders stacked up on the table. They had convinced him to take the day off and spend it with them going through the contents of the safe and he felt guilty knowing that Sunday was the only day they ever had to spend the whole day together outside of work. They had always spent Sunday together and here he was a little after 9am intruding on their time together.

“We should do this another day.” Shane said as he watched Bea and Allie cooking breakfast together.

Bea turned to face him with a smile, “One Sunday isn't going to make a difference, besides the most exciting thing we had planned today was going to the supermarket, we can do that tomorrow while you're at work!”

“But…”

“No buts Shane.” Allie slid a plate and mug of coffee across the table to him, “Beas right, we spend most of the day catching up on what we don't get done during the week….now I'm sure we aren't going to fall out over not doing the laundry and who's turn it is to clean the bathroom when you need to do this. We said we'd be here with you when went through all this and I have to admit I'm rather curious myself.”

“Thanks…don't know how I would have handled this without you both.”

Bea and Allie sat down at the table with their breakfast and although neither of them had really wanted to get out of bed before lunch time as they usually wouldn't they didn't want Shane to keep making excuses for not doing this, it was one Sunday and they could both live with that if it helped him get the answers he'd always wanted. When they finished eating Shane had insisted on helping clean up and for once neither of them had put up much of a fight after seeing the look in his eyes.

“Right…where do we start?” Allie asked as she placed two mugs of coffee on the table before turning back to retrieve her own. “I know it's customary to start at the beginning but none of these are labelled with a beginning or end.” She joked.

“They all appear to be dated.” Shane observed out loud as he picked up a couple of the folders, “Maybe there is a beginning if we put them in date order.”

An hour later there were 21 neat piles of folders spread out across the table, one for each year of Shane's life so far, some piles being smaller than others. Shane picked up the first folder that was dated with his birthday unsure what it might contain and unsure if he really wanted to know. Holding it in his hands for a couple of minutes he passed it to Bea who took it from him before emptying its contents out on the table in front of them. A photograph landed on the table face up and Shane reached out for it straight away, he'd had a copy of this particular picture that was given to him when he was about 5 years old by a social worker when he was moved to yet another foster home.

“That's me and mum the day I was born, how the hell did she get this? I had this picture but I left it behind when I was moved in a hurry.”

Bea turned over more photographs ignoring the few papers that were in there for the time being, “There's more of you together, you should keep them.”

Shane nodded putting them to one side before finding one of his mum alone and then another one of her and Joan. “She wasn't lying…she did know mum, but how…where were these even taken?”

Bea picked up the other folded that was on the first pile it was much thicker than the first and looking inside it she found that it contained a copy of a prison file, Jianna Butlers prison file no less. It was a strange thing for someone to have and none of them were sure how she could have got hold of it until Shane found another photograph of Joan dressed in a prison guards uniform with Shane in her arms. “She worked at a prison…she was a fucking psycho. You think that's how she met mum? Shit I don't think I really wanna know any more.”

“There's another letter…doesn't look like Joan wrote it, not her handwriting.” Bea passed it over to Shane who looked at the writing on the envelope, it definitely wasn't Joan's handwriting. “Could be from your mum…won't know kid unless you open it.”

Shane was reluctant to open it and pushed it to one side, he knew it was always a possibility that he could find out things about his mum that he had no clue about, that there was every chance that she could have left something with Joan that was meant for his eyes only and after seeing the photographs that had included Joan with him as a baby he was pretty sure that maybe at least some of what she had said had been the truth but there was still so much to go through and they could uncover anything. They worked through the piles slowly uncovering more photographs mostly of Shane from a distance but one or two were up close so she had at least always known where he was. With each pile they went through there was always another letter, always in Joan's handwriting and always with a date on the envelope, the date always being his birthday. He knew he was going to have to read them but the prospect of doing that left him feeling empty, like he had no safe harbour away from the storms.

Bea hadn't taken her eyes away from his mum's prison records for the last thirty minutes, reading the social workers report about Shane's removal from her and the reasons for it she found strange, she only had a few months left of her sentence, appeared not to have touched drugs or gotten into any trouble and had obviously been taking good care of Shane, the given reason for his removal had been neglect and that obviously wasn't the case in prison or not she clearly hadn't been neglecting him. Then she found some hand written notes that were not part of her file but had been stuck in the back of the file, reading them made her blood run cold, Derek Channing’s association with Joan went back further than anyone had ever guessed, right back to when Joan had worked at Blackmore prison, the same prison where Derek was regional director at the time and where Shane's mum had been sent after sentencing. Reading the notes Bea had to wonder why Joan had ever associated herself with him if she had know that he had been behind Shane being removed from his mum, was it all part her long term plan to get her revenge that had only backfired because Channing had gone to Bea and Franky with his own agenda?

As Allie and Shane carried on going through the piles of files Bea slowly started to piece together what had happened. It appeared that Joan had developed an obsession with Jianna, at least that was how what she read had made it seem but she couldn't help wonder if even Joan really did have a small place inside of her where she did have feelings and the only two people who had ever meant anything to her were Shane and his mum. It wasn't hard to see why if that was the case why she became who she did. Channing obviously hadn't like how close Joan and Jianna were and of course it wasn't allowed, he seemed to have created a great web of lies that even involved other prisoners saying that she left Shane alone all the time, ignored his cries and spent all the time she could with Joan while her son suffered but that wasn't the case and Bea was going to try her hardest to explain this entire mess to him. After Shane had been taken away and placed in foster care Jianna had turned to drugs and Channing had left to take up another position a few days later. Everyone had assumed, even Joan, that Jianna had killed herself but after an independent investigation into her death had been carried out an autopsy had been ordered. Finding another report that looked like a recent copy of an old coroners report Bea slipped away quietly from the kitchen placing everything on the coffee table in the living room. The inquest findings were simple, she had been badly beaten and hung, her cause of death had finally been concluded as being an unlawful killing although no one in the prison was ever arrested, it seemed that everyone had just given up because she was just another prisoner.

Shane and Allie finished looking through the folders, every single one had contained photographs of Shane, the most recent folder only contained two, one of him sitting outside the bar while he was taking a break the other of him with Bea and Allie sitting inside the bar, that had confused them both at first until they had looked more closely and noticed Will was there in the background, she'd obviously had someone else following Shane since she'd gone to prison. Grabbing the pile of letters they found Bea sitting on the sofa staring at the papers that were spread out on the coffee table.

“Everything alright?” Allie asked concerned when she saw the expression on Beas face.

“Huh?….Errrrr, not sure…Shane did anyone ever tell you anything about how your mum died?”

“Not really.” He shrugged as he sat down next to Bea, “I just got told she died in prison, she was on drugs….don't remember anything else.”

Bea wasn't sure she should be the one to tell him how his mum had died as she looked back down at the report in front of her, he deserved the truth but it was something that may well crush him. Everything that had happened had all been because Derek Channing had decided that he wasn't just going to sit back and watch a prison officer help or get close to an inmate so instead of just reprimanding Joan he had gone a step further, from everything Bea had read it was apparent that it was more than just help that Joan had offered and when she'd read that Joan had helped Jianna apply for early release to a state approved facility where she could finally find a stable place to raise Shane Bea had felt more anger towards Channing than she ever had in the past. No matter what Joan had become there was at least a little evidence that at one time in her life she had a little humanity, that she couldn't stop the feelings that she had developed for Jianna and maybe Bea had thought that if things had been different Joan might have actually been the one person Shane and his mum could have loved and relied on. Shane resented his mum, believed that she hadn't wanted to keep him, never knowing the whole truth had tarnished his view of the love he should still have for her, a child's love is never ending, it doesn't just fade away until there is nothing left but a hollow heart, it can be broken, stripped away by lies and abuse and he had had enough of that his whole life, she wasn't going to lie to him finding the words to break it to him was a battle though. Allie could see her struggle, she had no idea what Bea had read but she knew that it was something that wasn't easy to verbalise as she moved some of the papers out of the way before sitting on the coffee table facing Bea.

“Shane wants to read the letters…” Allie smiled a little weakly at Bea, “He wanted us both with him when he does but you seem to have something that you need to tell him and I know it might be hard.”

“You know me far too well Allie Novak.” Taking hold of one of Allies hands she turned a little to face Shane. “Shane I…I…this isn't going to be easy to hear, it's certainly not something I really want to have to tell you…”

Bea stumbled over her words not even sure if Shane was taking everything in that she told him, the only thing keeping her calm enough to continue were the hand in hers. Watching him once she'd finished she started to worry, the neutral expression he had worn when she began was still present. Maybe his emotions hadn't caught up with the information, emotions are what make everyone human, nothing she had told him was good and you can't have the good without the bad, no light without darkness. The trick she knew with any emotions was to balance them so that the bad wouldn't always seem as terrible as it was giving you the chance to appreciate everything that was good.

“She didn't give me away because she wanted to, she had no choice?” Shane looked at his hands, “So for years I've blamed her for me having a shitty life and there was really nothing she could have done to stop it?”

“No.” Bea half whispered.

“I've blamed the wrong person my whole life…Channing…he'll never get out will he?”

“I don't know…I would hope not, he's not fit to stand trial and as long as he isn't as far as I know he will stay where he is.”

All anyone could do was hope that Channing would never be released, it didn't matter if that meant he would always be considered unfit to stand trial as long as he was kept locked away. Shane soon turned his attention back to the letters, Joan had written one every year on his birthday and as much as he despised her after everything she had done he was determined now to find out exactly what she knew. He deserved the truth after all, not that he expected her to have written the whole truth. Two hours later the letters were scattered on the coffee table along with everything else, trying to get to the truth through Joan's words seemed to be sheer torture to both Bea and Shane. She had written long paragraphs explaining how hard she was trying to find a way to save him from the endless stream of foster families he found himself placed with but they had found nothing to prove anything she had written was the truth. Her words and actions seemed completely divergent, no proof left Shane with the feeling that maybe her brains navigator and narrator had entirely different ideas, that they were pulling in opposite directions, she wrote what she thought he wanted to hear but had never done anything to help improve his situation except put money aside for him. She could certainly talk the talk and maybe most people would believe her words but everyone knew that she wasn't a valiant protector, when it came down to it he had been left alone in a world full of pain. Every time he was moved he was left at the mercy of his new tormentors until they had had enough of him or he went off the rails again and he was thrown back into the system. Every letter ended the same, her telling him how much she loved and cared for him but that was nothing more than words, her lack of action only proved to him that deep down she resented his presence in the world when his mother had lost her life to a handful of other inmates who had been told by Channing about the relationship she had with Joan.

Allie had sat quietly only moving to sit next to Bea so she could read the letters after her and Shane had finished with them, her thoughts going back to the photographs that had hung on one bedroom wall, it was the only room in the house that had any sign that a real family had ever lived in it making her remember that over the past few months she had completely forgotten about staying in touch with her brother even though she had promised herself that she would. Life and other people who had been determined to throw a spanner in the works had gotten in the way and her brother had been the last thing on her mind. Taking a letter from Bea when she offered it to her left her half wondering what the hell was wrong with Joan, she'd gone into great detail about the death of her sister and somehow it didn't sound like an accident or a natural death. The next letter she was handed went into detail about Joan's efforts to adopt Shane, she had ranted about the authorities saying that she was psychologically unfit to be considered as an adoptive parent. Shane had stopped reading the letter in his hand and watched the expression slowly change on Allies face.

“She was selfish…she shifted the blame onto everyone else, I'm sure if she'd have convinced them that she was fit she would have blamed me for everything that went wrong in her life, tell me I wasn't good enough and I kinda lived like that anyway. I wasn't perfect, I wasn't happy but at least I didn't have to live with her. I should think myself lucky really I stayed completely lost to her and It's never felt so good to feel lost.”

“Guess that's one way of looking at it.” Allie sighed, “It doesn't bother you that she wanted to adopt you and couldn't, Knowing what you know about her now I mean?”

“If I'd never got the chance to read all this and just found out she wanted to adopt me it might have, I mean as kids it was what we all hoped for, and a few of the other kids did get adopted, some had their families traced and moved to the other side of the country, one kid I remember had to move to England to live with his grandparents who he'd always thought were dead…it was bad I can't say it wasn't but I think even at the worst times I had it was better than living with her…she tried, she failed story of her life ain't it? Sometimes I felt like a bouncing ball I was moved that often but the alternative…” Shane shivered, “Doesn't bear thinking about really.”

“You've taken all, this much better than I think I would have.” Allie smiled at Shane before looking at Bea.

“He's tough, he knows what's right and wrong…Shane knows what it's like Allie, to feel like no one cared all three of us do. We both know what it's like to feel like our emotions and passions don't matter, that no one really sees us.” Beas eyes rested back on the coffee table for a few seconds, “Some people just like to watch others suffer they get a buzz from it. They make their brand of cruelty right in their heads with their own twisted logic. It makes us angry then leaves us bitter and that's worse because anger is over in a flash bitterness lasts…for a lifetime if we let it.”

They finished reading the letters and Shane was a little angered by the last one, Joan telling him that no good would come from him working with Bea and Allie, Bea took it all in her stride but Shane voiced his opinion very loudly for five minutes. Allie sat listening quietly until Shane had finished his rant and then decided that a drink was in order disappearing into the kitchen and returning with three beers almost as fast she'd left the room.

“I'm not keeping the house, and I don't want the money, I don't need it…I earn enough and I'm happy where I live, it might not be much but it's all I need…I need some ideas I want to help someone but I don't know who.”

“Maybe you should contact DHHS.” Allie shrugged, “Maybe they could help you come up with a plan, maybe it could be used to help kids leaving foster care, you just got dumped out there and I guess a lot of kids still do….i guess things will have changed a little but I bet there are still plenty of kids out there who need a little extra help and support. But you need to be certain that you really don't want to keep it before you make any huge decisions, sleep on it.”

Shane had done nothing but sleep on it since the day they had gone to the house, it was too big for one person and besides he really didn't want anything that came from Joan, not the house or the money. He was happy with the life that he'd created for himself, he gathered all the photographs together that had his mum on them before asking Bea if she would get rid of the rest nothing that Joan had ever touched seemed to turn out for the best but he was sure that if he could take what she had given him he could make something good from it no matter how much hard work it took. He wasn't scared of hard work the last three years had been nothing but hard work and right when he thought he had finally had everything sorted out in his life Joan had stuck a spanner in the works but he was determined not to let her bring him down.

Arriving home Shane knew he was making the right decision, no matter how long it took it him he would find some way to make good use of the house and money. The day had been draining and after a quick bite to eat and a shower he fell into bed exhausted until his eyes landed on the stack of black leather bound journals that belonged to Joan, he'd long since gotten bored with Ivan's journals that seemed to be nothing more than his thoughts about the world at large which he found strange since he appeared to have a family but in the two he had worked his way through he had never found any mention of them, of any of them it seemed as if they never existed in his regimented thoughts and theories. Getting out of bed again he pulled one from the pile since he hadn't sorted them out into any semblance of order yet, maybe Joan would give him some clues what life in that house was truly like.

He opened the book and started to read and soon realised that her life seemed to mirror his own in a lot of ways one entry in particular caught his attention.

 

  
_When I went to my father with an open heart it seemed as if I were only an annoyance to him, nothing more than another mouth to feed. He is all we have left since mother was taken from us, he is our only hope, the only one who should fill this void we feel. Mother fought for us, loved us, she should be the one who remains but it was not to be and so we are stuck with him. He will count the remaining slices of bread and complain that we cost too much to keep while he counts the cents. If we cry he says we try to manipulate him, that our sadness is nothing more than attention seeking. Every time he looks at me I feel myself die a little more inside and that makes me angry, so angry that I feel the urge to kill him but I would never give him the satisfaction, he deserves to get old, to become frail and of no consequence to anyone, one day I will be master of this house and he will be the one crying from the lack of care and attention._

 

  
As he read further he became sure that it wasn't the fact that she didn't like people that had made her the way she was it was the lack of love. It seemed that any association with that particular emotion was always a bad one so she just learnt to reject it as it were a foreign concept to her. He read how her father had raised his hands to both her mother and sister and she seemed to question if love really existed at all. He read what she wrote about hearing her sisters screams as his hands gripped her throat, as he dragged her down to the cellar and the need for that room they had found suddenly became apparent, it wasn't Joan who had suffered down there but her sister. Shane yawned, as much as he wanted to keep reading his eyes were too heavy as he dropped the journal down beside him before switching off the lamp, the last thought that he had before surrendering to sleep was that even Joan wasn't born bad she was a product of her environment just as much as he could have been if he'd have surrendered to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't promise to get another chapter out in a week although I will try to, with any luck I may have a little concentration back.


	142. Chapter 142

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm certain my honest and humble apologies don't actually make up for my neglect of this story but I have struggled to write it. And I don't seem to like any part of this chapter because it all seems a little more disjointed than I would like but I finally finished it. I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas.

Shane spent every free minute he had reading more of Joan's journals, he lay in bed until he couldn't keep his eyes open, spent his breaks sitting at the bar reading more of what she had written before passing them on to Bea as soon as he had finished another one.

“Hey Bea you need to read this…this is messed up.”

Bea walked over to where Shane was sitting at the end of the bar and sat next to him, the bar wasn't busy, even Linda was leaning on the bar waiting for someone, anyone who need serving. Shane slid the book over to Bea before getting off the bar stool he'd occupied while he was on his break.

“I can wait until you've finished, you aren't even halfway through this one and you know when I start reading I'll never put it down.”

Shane just shrugged as he made his way back behind the bar.

“Yeah well, there's another in the office if you finish that one.”

Nothing about Joan's life seemed normal but since he'd sorted the journal’s into the right order the things she did seemed to make more sense in a messed up way. When she was younger she was just a torturer but was able to hide her penchant for causing pain from the rest of the people around her because she tried not to be like her father. Her mother had always suspected that she would follow in his footsteps, his army career had served him well, to the world at large he was firm but fair, behind closed doors he was to be obeyed, one wrong move, one wrong word would result in a beating, for her sister the cellar became her prison. Joan was his favourite he saw himself in her when he found the small animals that she had pinned out behind the garden shed so she could dissect them, parts of her journals went into great detail about how much she enjoyed watching the light leave their eyes. A life in prison had always been on the cards it had only been a matter of time it was just a surprise that it took so long for her to get caught out. She'd been great at hiding who she really was in the beginning and nobody had ever suspected.

Bea sat at the bar for most of the afternoon reading one journal then the next, Joan didn't need weapons to hurt people, her words could reduce anyone to tears. When she snapped she would lash out and her very own brand of torture would begin, she was a torturer and a murderer and she'd gotten away with the things she'd done for years. Bea remembered that maniacal expression on her face that night in the cellar and wondered how many others who had witnessed it hadn't lived to tell. She really was a true psychopath, she lacked remorse and empathy and she truly didn't care if other people lived or died and from what Bea had seen of her any emotion she felt she only felt shallowly. For someone so emotionally disconnected it was hard to believe that Joan could have cared for Shane at all, she functioned mostly as if other people were just objects for her to manipulate and destroy without any concern. Joan understood exactly what the people around her were feeling she just couldn't feel it herself and that gave her the advantage, knowing what you were thinking and feeling gave her the edge and it had served her well all her life, until she met Bea, threatened the people she cared for most. That was her one mistake, to underestimate what Bea could and would do if she felt that her family were being threatened.

As the bar started to get busier Allie wondered out of the restaurant her phone pressed to her ear, her laughter caught Beas attention and she smiled.

“Your dad wants to know why you aren't answering your phone.” Allie passed her phone to Bea just as Boomer came bounding through the door.

“So like where's the Christmas decorations blondie?” Boomer frowned as she looked around the bar.

“You offering to help Booms?”

“Well hell yeah!…But ya can't use Wills old stuff, fink he used the same stuff every year since he took over this place.”

“And I'm guessing you have a suggestion?”

“Ya know it, Christmas kingdom! They have everything you could ever need an I know the manager, Flavia, she's a real gem. I could call her and let her know that we're gonna go over…so when are we goin?”

Allie looked over at Bea who was still talking to her dad on the phone, she smiled as she watched her shaking her head and laughing.

“How about tomorrow morning? I'm sure I can escape the restaurant for a couple of hours.”

Boomer fished her phone out of her pocket and placed a quick call, a quick call for Booms always being the exact opposite when she was excited about something, mix Christmas and decorations in the same sentence and Boomer was in her element.

“Yeah, yeah, we gonna need lights, lots of lights……..a tree? Hold on?” Boomer pulled her phone away from her ear and looked straight at Allie.

“Hey blondie ya got enough room for a tree?”

Allie looked around the bar, honestly there was never going to be the space for anything like that in there, and it probably wasn't the safest idea Boomer had ever had. Allie smiled, “There's room in the restaurant, but nothing enormous Booms.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Boomer went straight back to her call.

“Yeah we need a tree, reckon about an 8 footer ya got anythin like that?…..Gotta be tasteful though, not sure Bea would appreciate sumfin that don't look real…….na, na none of that all singin all dancin stuff, it's a bar not my house.”

Boomer grinned at Allie, “She says they can sort us out with everythin we need, told her no pink tree or anything like that.” She grinned even wider.

“Definitely not!” Allie laughed, “I can't think of anything that makes me feel less festive…pink tree!” Allie shook her head, “They actually sell those?”

“Yeah….ya haven't done much shoppin for Christmas decorations av ya?”

Allie eyes shot to the floor, she hated having to admit that no she hadn't, the previous year had been the first time in so long that she'd even seen a Christmas tree indoors and she'd never had anywhere to put so much as a candy cane until she met Bea.

“No Booms…I haven't…” she blinked as soon as she felt tears threatening to escape.

“Ahhh, sorry blondie didn't mean to upset ya…it's gonna be so much fun, right gotta go, I'll meet ya here bout nine yeah?”

Allie nodded as she watched Boomer turn on her heels and walk out of the bar just as fast as she entered it.

“What was all that about?” Bea asked as she walked up behind Allie and wrapped her arms around her waist.

“Oh…I'm going to Christmas kingdom with Booms in the morning…now what did you’re dad want you for?”

“Apparently everyone will be arriving on Sunday and they've rented a place here for two weeks.”

“I thought they were staying with us…oh and at Franky's.”

“Apparently not, I say we get out of here what do you say?”

———————————————

Allies bottom jaw almost hit the floor the second she stepped through the door of Christmas kingdom, everywhere her eyes wondered she was met with everything Christmas related.

“Oi…blondie the trees are this way.” Boomer stopped in her tracks when she realised that Allie wasn't still beside her. “Come on would ya? We ain't got time to waste there's already a bloody sale on the trees.”

Allie smiled and followed Boomer, she knew this could spell trouble, Boomer loved Christmas and would talk endlessly about what new decorations she was planning on buying from the end of August onwards. She only wanted a few decorations to brighten the bar up, nothing over the top and having Boomer with her could be a disaster waiting to happen, especially after Halloween, Bea had been less than impressed when she had first seen what they had done. Boomer honed in on one of the biggest trees in the display.

“This one!” She beamed with the brightest grin on her face.

“You don't think it's a little too much Booms?” Allie wasn't so sure that an almost ten foot imitation noble pine was the best idea but the look on Boomers face made it hard to say no.

“Ya have the space, it won't touch the ceiling, come on blondie, ya know ya want it….its Christmas! Everyone loves Christmas, and ya get a shit load of family's in the restaurant, kids love a big tree….” Her grin started to fade a little, “Please!” Boomer almost pleaded.

“Fine we'll take one, but if Bea gets mad it's on you.”

“Sure no problem, she's gonna love it….lights, we need lights.” Boomer headed off leaving Allie to shake her head in disbelief, no one could say they didn't love Boomer, it was impossible not to.

Two hours later they were were heading out of the store after arranging to have everything delivered the next morning.

“Tell me again why Maxine doesn't need you at the salon.” Allie said as they pulled up outside the bar.

“Ah…yeah….she says I'm drivin her an all the customers crazy, all I was doin was tryin to bring some Christmas spirit to the place…who doesn't love Christmas cookies with their coffee?…Ya got any Christmas music? Ya have to turn that shit up…I'm tellin ya it makes the customers happy but Maxi says she can't hear herself fink.”

“That might be a problem Booms in the salon, you do actually have to hear what people are saying to you, you can't compare that to here, if you can't hear what the customers are saying they usually just point and you get it.”

Next morning Boomer was already waiting outside the bar when Bea and Allie arrived, everything should be delivered to the bar within the next thirty minutes or so and she was excited. Bea got out of the car and knew straight away that Boomers presence this early in the day could only mean that she'd talked Allie into buying way more than they really needed. Looking over at Allie she smiled when she saw her look down at the ground sheepishly, she couldn't be mad with her, with either of them if she tried.

“So you've gone a little over bored?” She shrugged, “I'm sure I can live with that as long as neither of you expect me to help, if Shane wants to that's up to him but I'm staying in the office.”

The Christmas tree was ridiculous really even if it was two feet away from touching the ceiling Allie thought that if it were a real tree it wouldn't look out of place in a forest, Shane wobbled on the ladder as he put the star on the top trying not to fall off, but he was more than happy to do it not wanting Boomer or Allie to fall. Boomer stood grinning, hopping from one foot to the other as they waited for Shane to finish so she could start hanging the decorations on it. Boxes of baubles and packets of tinsel lay on one of the tables while she wrestled with the box that contained the lights she'd picked especially for the tree. Boomer was all fingers and thumbs but with a little help from Shane they were soon placed carefully around the branches before they both stood back waiting for Allie to plug them in, as soon as she had Boomer was itching to get going with the rest of the decorations while Allie and Shane watched on as she carefully considered where everything was going to be placed, by the time she had finished it looked perfect.

All morning and well into the afternoon they worked decorating the restaurant and the bar, Shane helped out while the bar was quiet and on his breaks and stayed after his shift was over. Bea had been true to her word and had not left the office, there was no way she was getting dragged into Boomers plans, although she did have the excuse that she had orders to finish.

Boomer was pleased with the end result of their work, she looked around the bar and smiled brightly being surrounded by lights and music made everything better and she was impatient for Bea to make her presence known and have a look at their handiwork. The restaurant was decorated much more traditionally with bells, candles and Allie favourites the snow globes. Allie took one last look around before going to the office in search of Bea.

“Hey Shane did ya know that in England in the olden days they used to burn the decorations after Christmas….yeah sounds stupid I know, would be hard to do that now right?” Boomer grinned.

“You love Christmas that much ehhh?” Shane smiled back at her.

“Yeah….i know all kinds of stuff….like they have a superstition that decorations have be be taken down by….” Boomer scratched her head for a second as she thought, “Oh yeah that's it…twelfth night and if they ain't they have to stay up for the whole year until the next twelfth night…I kinda like the sound of that aye…keepin em up all year.”

“Christmas overload Booms.” Shane chuckled.

Boomer shook her head, “Na, not possible, ya can neva have too much Christmas.”

Bea wasn't sure what to expect when Allie led her by the hand from the office back out into the bar. As soon as Boomer heard Beas voice she felt like every fibre of her being was vibrating with anticipation, her hands trembled and her eyes were wide, all she was hoping for was that Bea would approve of their efforts and wouldn't think that Boomer had persuaded Allie to go too over the top like she had at halloween. Be looked around the bar wearing an expression that gave nothing away making Boomer nervous until she saw the smile creep onto her lips and then excitement rushed through her, her brain was on fast forward and her excited chatter as she pointed out her favourite decorations to Bea had absolutely no off switch. Walking into the restaurant she walked with a bounce in her step, there was something so intoxicating about Boomer when she was excited, she would bounce from one foot to the other, chatter endlessly and squeal a little when ever anyone approved of what she had done. Her grin got wider and anyone who was around her would start to smile, even the grumpiest person could never hold back their smile and today, Boomer seemed to be bursting with liquid sunshine, not one member of the staff could hold back a smile.

———————————————

Debbie arrived back home on Saturday and was surprised that the house wasn't empty expecting both Bea and Allie to be at the bar. Finding them wrapping the last few presents that they hadn't had time to get done she laughed when she heard Boomer in the kitchen complaining that Maxine had no Christmas spirit at all as she bit into yet another cinnamon cookie that her and Allie had made earlier that morning.

“Oh god!” Debbie groaned, “I hope none of those are for me…should I close my eyes?”

“Debs!” Boomer bounced out of the kitchen and pulled her into a tight hug, “Ya hungry? We got cookies.”

“Yeah…you haven't eaten them all yet Booms?” Debbie laughed.

Boomer frowned, “Na…fink we made too many, we got a bit carried away.”

“No one has to work then I gather?” Debbie asked as she looked round the room.

“We took an extra day off.” Bea smiled, “Its been chaotic this year, dad and everyone arrive tomorrow afternoon.”

“Franky doesn't mind having house guests?”

“She won't have any, dad told me that they have rented a house for two weeks, I said it was a waste of money but it was too late to talk them out of it by the time I found out.”

Boomer spent the rest of the day hanging out with Debbie who said she needed to do some last minute shopping, giving Bea and Allie some peace and quiet to make a list of everything they still needed to get from the supermarket.

“Where are we actually spending Christmas Day?”

Bea shook her head, “I have no idea, Franky said she wanted to make lunch for everyone but until I speak to dad again I told her to hold off buying the food.”

“So why are we making such a huge list? Are we really going to need half of this?”

“It's a long time since dad came here for Christmas, I'm not even sure what we need…but it's better to be overly prepared.”

Bea had meant to have a proper conversation with her dad about Christmas long before it was almost upon them and now it seemed like everyone else had already made their plans and forgotten to mention them to her or maybe she'd just neglected to pay better attention. Buying the bar had been meant to make life less complicated for them except things hadn't gone according to that plan. Now she was making plans to drag Allie not only around the supermarket but around miles of other shops because she'd left it so late to make any solid plans. And everyone knew that Bea hated shopping, she hated everything about it, she hated the crowds, the queues and most of all she hated the aching feet that a shopping trip always ended with. Shopping for Christmas was even worse she would always lose her patience with overly attentive shop assistants, the seasonal music playing in every store would drive her crazy and all the special deals that were put right in front of her that were designed for no other purpose than to temp her to spend more than she really needed to were more than a mere annoyance.

After eventually deciding that they should leave the supermarket until last they finally left the house as a sense of dread suddenly crept over Bea like an icy chill, there was no way of avoiding the crowds of people who would be doing their last minute Christmas shopping and everything they had to do themselves was going to be very last minute. Allie had tried to be a little more organised and had been the one to convince Bea to actually start buying presents, Bea was used to doing that once they arrived at her dads and right now she wondered why she'd thought that staying at home this year was a good thing. There was going to be no way of avoiding the conversations that she'd told herself she'd would have with her dad, she wasn't even sure if he knew what had happened with Joan but suspected that since Allie had had a few hushed conversations on the phone since everything had returned to normal he most likely did, there was no way of avoiding what she hadn't told him.

Bea walked slower than was usual as they went from store to store, no matter how much she hated shopping watching Allies face light up when she saw something she liked somehow made up for how bored she felt. It would all come together in the end, if it were left to her she would be rushing around on Christmas Eve regretting putting everything off until the next day like she used to do, one day would roll into the next and she'd say the same thing, ‘I'll do it tomorrow!’ And before she knew it there was only one more tomorrow and she'd spend hours trying to get everything arranged in a few hours when she'd had weeks to prepare. Allie might let her use that line once or twice and sometimes she'd even think the same thing when she really didn't feel like it but this year was going to be different, tomorrow the rest of their family arrived and they both wanted everything to be perfect.

———————————————

“Mum gramps just called and wants to know why you never answer your phone.” Debbie shouted through their bedroom door, “Their flight landed an hour ago…you two alive in there?”

Bea pulled the covers over her head and groaned, she didn't want to get up, she didn't want to be rushing around for the second day in a row even if she knew they had to get up.

“Give us ten minutes Deb, your mum doesn't want to get out of bed.” Allie chucked as she pulled the covers back.

“Hey!” Bea wined, “I never said I was getting up, you can if you want to.”

“I never said I wanted to, ‘WE’ have to…stop being lazy we've had two days away from work the least you can do is spend some time with your family.”

“Our family.” Bea corrected, “They love you just as much as they do me or Deb so you better get used to that as long as you're planning on sticking around.”

“Where else would I ever want to be? It just takes a little getting used to, you know I never had that…my family wasn't just dysfunctional it was toxic. I watch you and Deb together and sometimes I can forget that I never had that, forget that my mum always said I was stupid and ugly, that I should never have been born because she never wanted me.”

“Hey.” Bea sat up quickly and pulled Allie closer, “You aren't anything she said you were, if she couldn't see how amazing you are that was her problem.”

“You kinda have to say things like that.”

“No I don't…I tell you what I see not what I think you want to hear.”

“Maybe you do, sometimes it's still hard not to exist back there, to not hear her voice telling me how useless and stupid I am, that I should just die because I'll never be anything that anyone wants to have have around…that no one will ever love me because I'm unlovable.” Tears filled Allies eyes, every time she ever thought back to that dark place in her life she found herself still believing words that she hadn't heard in years and would never hear again but they still haunted her. “Then you found me…I honestly thought that night that I was just going to be another case to you, another pay day, you'd done what Kaz wanted and you'd take me back then leave, but you didn't…you didn't seem to see what I believed everyone else saw.”

“I didn't and I never will because no matter what she said I'm sure she knew herself it wasn't true, your mum said what she said to make herself feel better about herself, because she had failed, because she never felt good enough, she wanted you to hurt and I've never wanted to do that to you…even though I know I have, I will never make excuses for anything I've said or done to make you feel like she did because it's inexcusable but I can promise to try my hardest to never do it again.”

“I know.” Allie whispered, “But we really need to get up…we have places to go and people to see…and a daughter who's going to be crashing through that door if one of us doesn't make an appearance in the next couple of minutes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like I'll be writing a Christmas overload of my own....I did intend to stay on track and get this out before Christmas so now you're all just going to have to put up with me as I write Christmas at new year, and probably well into it!


End file.
